The Meteor Effect
by Morello
Summary: It was supposed to be the end of the world. There weren't supposed to be consequences. Reno and Rude, m-preg.
1. Working Partners

**I've been a bit stuck with writing lately, so I thought I'd write something I wouldn't usually do, as an exercise. It was supposed to be a quick one-shot but it grew. It will be six chapters, and is nearly finished, and after that I'll get back to writing Kiroshitsuji and my other long-neglected unfinished FFVII fics. Thank you for your patience, those who are waiting for chapters! **

**This could be seen as a kind of sequel to a story I wrote as "A Darker Shade" called "Earth and Live" - s/7564919/1/Earth_and_Live in which Reno and Rude get together at Meteorfall, although some details would have to be changed to make it a real sequel. **

**Warnings: m-preg. I've tried to make it as realistic as possible in the circumstances. I have two kids, so I know what it's like!**

* * *

**The Meteor Effect**

**I**

**Working Partners**

"I saw Reeve today," said Tseng.

Reno looked up from his crouched position near the coffee machine. The mechanism had jammed – again – and the cup was still less than half full.

"Yeah?" Reno said. "Any news?" He took the almost half-full cup and held it towards Rude, who shook his head. Reno raised an eyebrow.

"No news about cures," Tseng said. "But something odd. Reeve was attempting to pressure me to ask Rufus for more money. He was flustered. He said we were going to need a lot more schools, hospitals and housing than he'd first planned for. The new city will have to grow. They're calling it the Meteor Effect."

"Not up to your exacting standards?" Reno said to Rude, gesturing with the plastic coffee cup. Rude made a face. "Think something disagreed with me," he complained, one hand on his stomach. "Can't face that shit on top –"

Reno only shrugged and took a sip of the lukewarm coffee. "Yeah," he said, downing the rest in one gulp, "This is pretty rank. Not gonna waste it though. Not like coffee grows on trees these days."

"Coffee still grows on trees, Reno," said Elena, looking up from her own battle with a recalcitrant photocopier. "We just can't get hold of it any more."

"Which comes to the same thing," replied Reno. "So – Tseng. The Meteor Effect?'"

"A huge population explosion," said Tseng.

Reno grinned. "All that end-of-the-world fucking? No surprises there."

"No," Tseng agreed, "But it's more than that. It's as if every woman who could have conceived that night _did_ conceive. And some who thought they couldn't. A lot who thought it wasn't the right time – some who thought they were infertile. It goes against all the stats, so Reeve says."

"How d'ya mean?" Reno asked, more out of general boredom than interest in the topic.

"Well – normally even a fertile woman only has a twenty to twenty-five percent chance of conceiving if she has sex during the right time. But it seems on the night Meteor was destroyed, the probability went up to a hundred percent."

"And stayed up?" Elena asked.

"No. It was just that night. There's going to be a huge spike in the birth rate in about five months' time. Reeve's already set up emergency training in midwifery for anyone with any kind of medical experience. One of you should probably go along, just in case some woman goes into labour in one of the lodges here. In fact, we should make an inventory of the patients – find out how many are pregnant."

"Whoa!" said Reno, holding up his hands. "Don't look at me, Boss. Babies and me don't mix. Rug rats…" he gave an exaggerated shudder. "I'll do the inventory, but keep me away from the sharp end, yo."

"Don't expect me to do it just because I'm female," Elena said, her eyes challenging anyone to disagree.

"Rude?" Tseng asked. "I'd volunteer myself, but with Rufus as he is –"

"I'll do it," Rude said. "I don't mind. I have the most medical training anyway. Reno – you think all of first aid is covered by whiskey and morphine."

"Works – why knock it?" Reno agreed.

"Thank you, Rude." Tseng sounded relieved.

"Thank the Gods we were all too busy at Meteorfall to get up to anything like that!" Elena exclaimed, grunting in satisfaction as she yanked free the crumpled paper that had been caught in the photocopier. Tseng glanced across at her, so neither of them noticed the quick, complex look that passed between Reno and Rude.

x

A week later, at the usual update meeting, Reno said, "So – I got the list of names, and it's blank. We got no pregnant women here."

"Well, that's a relief anyway," Tseng replied. "Moving on –"

"What's weird is," Reno interrupted, "they got none in the hospitals either. One of the female patients mentioned it. She was a nurse – before the stigma. She said she didn't think anyone with geostigma could get pregnant. I checked it out and she was right. Not one pregnancy among stigma patients."

"That's interesting," Tseng said. "So – the stigma prevents pregnancy."

"That's what I thought – but no," Reno replied, uncharacteristically serious. "I did some more digging, and guess what? Some women with stigma got pregnant afterwards, but no one who was pregnant when this shit started contracted the stigma – not until after they'd given birth. Not one that I've been able to find. Stigma doesn't prevent pregnancy – it's the other way around."

There was silence around the table as the four Turks digested the information. Elena gave a low whistle.

"Do we tell Reeve?" Reno asked Tseng.

"That's up to Rufus, but I'll suggest that we don't. Resources will be scarce enough when this baby boom happens – if Reeve decides to let the population know that pregnancy prevents geostigma..."

"Surely even Reeve wouldn't…" Elena began.

"Reeve will be conflicted," said Tseng. "He believes that the people have a right to know the truth."

Reno snorted, and Tseng raised an eyebrow. "New times, new attitudes, Reno."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Boss."

"I'll brief Rufus," Tseng said. "Rude – you can drop the midwifery course if you like. We won't have any pregnant stigma patients to deal with."

"I'll finish it," Rude replied. "It's all training."

"Seriously?" Reno asked him. "You don't mind?"

"Life," said Rude, laconic as ever. "It makes a change, you know?"

x

It was a few days later that Reno began to worry about Rude.

"Hey, Partner," he said one afternoon, as Rude paused at the top of the steep steps leading to the lodge where the Turks were currently living with Rufus. "You a little out of breath there?"

A puzzled look crossed Rude's face. "Yeah. Been happening a lot recently."

Reno frowned. Rude always kept himself in shape – didn't smoke – never got ill. "Thought so. Coffee n' shit still making you feel sick?"

"Yeah."

Reno stood back to let Rude go past him into the circular living area of the lodge. Rude headed for the door to the sleeping quarters, but Reno indicated the couch. "Sit down a minute, would ya?" Reno tried to make his voice sound casual, but Rude knew him too well.

"What?" he asked.

"Just – sit down."

Rude obeyed. Reno stayed standing. "Any other symptoms?" Reno asked.

Rude looked at him, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Is it the stigma?"

"I don't think so. No marks. I've been feeling sick though – a lot. And – kind of hard, here." He put his hand below his stomach.

"Let me see."

Rude looked up at him, suddenly unsure. Reno sighed. "Forget that. It happened. So what? It was meant to be the end of the fuckin' world! I don't regret it, anyway."

"You think I do?"

"How would I know? You don't tell me shit. Look – forget it. Just show me. Take off your jacket."

Rude took off his jacket and laid it neatly across the arm of the couch.

"And your shirt."

Rude unbuttoned his shirt. Reno found himself itching to help, remembering, but he hadn't so much as touched Rude since that day. Rude had seemed uncomfortable about the whole thing, and both of them had let it slide into the past, unmentioned.

Now, Reno stared at the definite swelling in Rude's normally flat abdomen. "Shit Rude! How long has it been like this?"

"Not long. But it's getting bigger."

Reno put his hand on the bump. It was firm, but yielded slightly under the pressure of Reno's fingers. The smooth skin was taut over it. Reno paled. This was something bad – some kind of growth. He felt suddenly sick at the thought of something being seriously wrong with his partner.

"You have to get this checked out."

Rude shook his head. "No doctors."

"Rude – this looks –"

"I know. But I hate doctors."

"You don't have a choice. I know a guy – Hearn - used to have a practice in the Sector Five slums. Treated gunshot wounds on the quiet – sometimes worked for Corneo. He's a good doctor. He's working in the refugee camps now. He's not Shinra. Nothing like that fuckin' stim addict Kilmister. Nothing to do with Hojo."

"I was hoping it would go away."

"It's not going away." Reno sat on the couch next to Rude, his actions much more careful than usual. Rude looked at him. In the bright sunlight that filled the room Reno could see his partner's eyes through the dark lenses of his sunglasses. When Reno looked away, focussing on the waterfalls cascading down the cliffs outside the lodge, the conversation had already happened. Rude sighed. "You got this doctor's number?"

"I'll take you to him," Reno said. "You shouldn't drive – not until we know what's wrong with you."

"There's hardly any fuel," Rude said.

"We'll take my bike. I have enough to get us there and back. You up to riding pillion?"

"Yeah – I'm fine."

Reno declined to point out the obvious. He got to his feet again, tense with nervous energy. "Okay. Let's go."

"Now? It's getting late – we'll go tomorrow."

"It's only just gone three! We'll go now."

"Reno –"

"Now."

Rude got up with a sigh. "You can be a real pain in the ass sometimes."

Maybe it was desperation to lighten the atmosphere that made Reno reply, "Yeah – well, you'd know." Rude froze. It was an instant – a fraction of a second – a strobe image – and then Rude was heading for the door as though nothing had been said. Reno saw Rude's sudden moment of – what? Anger? Regret? Shock? Whatever it had been, Reno found that he felt affronted by it, and wondered at his own reaction.

x

Reno cursed under his breath. Being a Turk was something best not mentioned these days, and Rude had been forced to wait his turn like everybody else, finally getting in to see the doctor after more than an hour's wait. The cramped waiting room took up one half of the portable cabin that constituted Dr. Hearn's surgery, and even this late in the afternoon every one of the dozen plastic chairs was occupied. Most of the patients were affected by the stigma, uneven dark patches mottling their skin. Many of them were covered in bandages. Reno thought of Rufus and the neatly dressed marks on his neck, arms and torso. As he waited for Rude to emerge from behind Doctor Hearn's closed door, Reno felt real cold fear for the first time in years. He had always been prepared for his own death – and even those of his President and colleagues if he died alongside them. But he couldn't lose his partner. Not like this. Not to some mystery disease, while the rest of the planet was battling geostigma.

Fuck – Rude had been in there too long.

Reno ran his fingers through his hair nervously. This was bad. What could grow like that swelling in Rude's abdomen except some sort of horrible cancer? Shit – no – don't even _think_ that word.

Rude would be okay. Rude _had_ to be okay.

Reno jumped to his feet the moment the door opened, but one look at the blank shock on Rude's face froze him. "Partner?"

"I – I have to go to the new hospital – it's on Hope Street. I need a scan."

"I'll take you there, now," said Reno, resisting the urge to scream, "_Tell me!"_ A scan was bad, wasn't it? It meant Hearn thought there was something in there to see.

Like almost all the buildings in the growing refugee city people were starting to call "Edge", the new hospital was mainly a collection of demountables. The only permanent structure was a square concrete block, erected in two months, housing a generator and functioning operating theatres. Reno parked the bike outside the perimeter fence that was locked and patrolled at night to prevent looters attempting to steal valuable medical supplies. A few passersby stopped to stare, eyes on the bike; minds on the precious fuel it contained.

"I'm gonna have to stay with the bike, Partner," Reno said. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah." Rude made his way to one of the portable cabins. A hand-painted sign above the door read "diagnostic imaging".

Reno waited in the afternoon sunlight, ostentatiously playing with his EMR, glaring at anyone who came too close. One boy asked, "Where d'you get the bike, huh? Are you with the WRO?"

"I've worked with Reeve Tuesti," Reno told him, knowing that the news would spread fast. It galled him to think that Reeve's name had more power than Rufus' now, but that situation would only be temporary. Shin-Ra was down, but not out. Never out. Not as long as Rufus was breathing, and his Turks were still there to protect him.

It was more than an hour later that Rude appeared, walking fast, stone-faced. "Okay," he said, as he approached Reno, "Now we need to go back to Hearn. You were right about him – he knows what he's doing."

"Okay," Reno replied. Rude said nothing more, and Reno didn't push – not there, in public. He turned the bike around, and headed back for the edge of the camp where Hearn's surgery was located.

By the time they arrived, the light was lengthening. The surgery was closed, but Rude knocked on the door, and Hearn opened it.

"You were right," Rude said.

"You have the images?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Come in. We'll discuss what we're going to do."

Once the two Turks were inside, Hearn looked at Reno. "You're his partner?"

"Yeah," said Reno, at the same instant that Rude exclaimed, "No!"

"Working partner," Rude explained. "Not –"

"I see. But in the light of – Do you want him present for the consultation?"

"No," said Rude, definitely.

Hearn glanced at Reno and back at Rude. "Come through to the consulting room," he said. Rude followed him, pulling the door firmly shut, leaving Reno alone in the empty waiting room.

"Thanks, Partner," Reno muttered to himself, annoyed by how much Rude's behaviour hurt.

_This is about_ him, Reno told himself, _not you, _but the closed door still felt like a rejection.

It was another hour before Rude reappeared, alone. Without meeting Reno's anxious gaze, he said, "Let's go."

Back at Cliff Resort, Reno dropped Rude off at the base of the steps and took the bike to the secure garage, excavated from the cliff below the lodge that had become the unofficial headquarters of all that remained of Shin-Ra. When he returned to the lodge Rude had already gone to their shared room, and the door was closed. Reno knocked, once, but there was no reply, and when he tried the door it was locked.

Reno found himself longing for someone to talk to, but he couldn't betray the fact of Rude's illness to the others when Rude so obviously wanted to keep it to himself. Tseng was doubtless with Rufus – the stigma had been very bad lately – and Elena was sleeping in preparation for the nightshift when Tseng went off duty.

After a fretful, unhappy evening watching WRO reports on TV, Reno went back to his room. This time he found the door unlocked. Rude was apparently asleep, or at least pretending to be. In any event, Reno's quiet, "Hey, Partner…" met with no response.

Reno slept badly, sure at times that Rude was awake in the darkness. When the dawn light grew strong enough to allow his eyes to make out the unnaturally still form of Rude, Reno asked, "Are we gonna talk about this, huh?"

Silence.

Reno propped himself on one elbow. "Rude?"

"I - I don't know how," Rude said. The catch in his partner's voice made Reno's heart ache – a feeling he thought he'd left behind in his rookie days. His indrawn breath was a sharp hiss as he made himself ask the question: "Is it terminal?"

"It's not cancer. It's – fuck, Reno – this is impossible. I can't…"

"You have to tell me, man. I'm goin' outta my mind here."

"I'm pregnant."

Reno laughed before he could stop himself. "That's not even funny. Not when you're sick."

"It's not funny. It's something out of a fucking horror film. I'm four months pregnant."

"Stop this shit." Reno's voice was strained. "What the fuck are you doing? You can tell me – if it's the stigma – if it's something new –"

Rude rolled over and switched on the desk lamp that stood on the nightstand between their beds. "I _am_ telling you. I know – it's crazy. But it kind of makes sense. Last week – I felt it move."

"No. This is –"

"Look." Rude threw two photographs onto Reno's bed. Scan pictures. Reno stared at the grey images, trying to tell himself that he couldn't make out the shape of a skull – the curve of a spine – a clearly defined hand.

"This is some kinda sick joke. That doctor in the camp – Rude, these can't be from _your_ scan!"

"I was watching. I saw it on the monitor. Four months ago Reno. Meteorfall. We were right there when the Lifestream came out of the ground."

"What the fuck? You mean other guys are the same?"

"No. Not as far as I know. I think it's just us. But we were closer to the Lifestream than anyone."

"_Us?" _Panicked, Reno looked down at his own concave belly. "You mean I might be –"

"No, Reno. I mean, it's _ours_. This one. In me."

"But that's impossible!"

"We fucked. Something happened – the – _power_ – that made all those women conceive – the Lifestream."

"But we're both _guys_!" Reno almost howled.

"Yeah."

"So how?"

"I don't know. Hearn didn't know."

"What are we gonna do?"

"That's what I had to decide. That's what I needed to think about."

"Could Hearn do it? No. He's not a surgeon. We'll have to get surgeons – bring them in, not let them see who they're operating on. I'll fix it. You're gonna be fine."

"I'm keeping it, Reno."

"Like fuck! You're ill. It's getting bigger every day. It'll kill you."

"No. Hearn thinks there's room. It's attached to my bowel. He thinks it might survive. They'd have to operate to deliver it early."

"It's too risky. And fuck it Rude – you don't want a kid! Turks and kids don't mix. Remember Commander Veld?"

"Things are different now. The world's different. I –"

"Shit. I can't believe you're even thinking about this!"

"I'm not thinking about it any more. I'm done thinking. I'm keeping it."

"So that's it?"

"Yeah."

"You don't even care what I think?"

Rude swung his legs out of bed and sat facing Reno in the slowly gathering light. He wore nothing but his boxers, and the swell of his abdomen was very apparent. Reno stared at it, his mind still struggling to grasp the impossible fact of what he was seeing.

"I do," Rude said, frowning. "But there's nothing I can do about it. No compromise. I either keep it, or I don't, and I'm keeping it."

"Why? I don't get why. It'll change everything if it survives. If _you_ do."

"Doesn't it matter to you that it's _yours_?" Rude asked.

"You have no way of knowing that!" exclaimed Reno, helplessness making him angry. "This insane theory about the Lifestream – that could be bullshit. Even if it _was _the Lifestream that somehow created it, that don't mean it's anything to do with me. Could be like – like a _clone_ or something. Or - maybe some chick you went with –"

Rude sighed. "There wasn't anyone else for weeks before, and no one after. But you're right – it could be something that was somehow made from just my cells – my DNA. There must be tests they can do."

"Makes no difference," Reno said. "Mine or not mine – you can't keep it! _I_ wouldn't, if it were me."

"Lucky for the kid that it's me then," said Rude.

"Not lucky for anyone. It will die. You'll most likely die too. I don't want –"

"It's my choice. My risk."

"Yeah, well don't expect me to go runnin' for the hot towels or whatever-the-fuck. I'll do whatever you want comes to getting that thing out of you, but if you wanna risk your life bringing some kinda freak into the world, then you're on your own!"

"Thought we were partners."

"_Working_ partners," Reno sniped. "Nothing else. You sure as hell made _that_ clear."

"Okay," said Rude.

"What does that mean?"

"Okay – I get it. You don't want in. This is a solo mission."

Reno felt an odd pressure in his chest. "I – I told you, I'll do anything to help you get better."

"I'm not sick."

Reno looked away. "This whole situation is fuckin' sick. Look – Rude – I never wanted kids. Never got a girl in trouble –"

Rude snorted. "As far as you know."

Reno couldn't deny the truth of the accusation in Rude's tone.

"As far as I know," he admitted. "But look – you say it's lucky for the kid that it's you. But what's lucky about being born now? Into this fucked up hell of a world? With two Turks for parents – assuming it is even is mine. Two male Turks. C'mon Rude – what kind of a life is that?"

"You think I haven't been through all this? But – I figure – when has there ever been a _good_ time to be born? There's always been war, and disease, and danger. Way I see it, it's better to have a life than not."

"Depends on the life. And what if you let this thing grow and something ruptures and it kills you, but the kid survives? You expect me to look after it – the thing that killed my partner? It's not a kid – it's a – a fucking _bomb_!"

Rude's hand moved to his belly – an automatic, protective gesture that shocked him as much as it did Reno. They stared at each other, Rude's arm a barrier between them.

"Don't talk about her like that," Rude said.

"_Her_?"

"Yeah. Sonographer said it's a girl."

"I can't – even –" Reno had no idea what to feel. Clutching at what he knew, he said, "That's a point. The sonographer has to be taken out. I'll sort it. And can we trust Hearn? He's good – he always used to know how to keep his mouth shut – but this is big –"

"No one's taking out anyone," Rude said firmly. "I trust Hearn. The sonographer has no idea who I am. She didn't even seem all that surprised. Hearn had phoned her – said it was related to the stigma. No one can explain how that happens either."

"But –"

"No. No killing. I'm not – I don't want her life to be like ours."

"Okay. No killing." Reno sighed. "You're really doing this."

"Yeah."

"Yeah. I - I have to think. I can't –" Reno ran his fingers through his hair.

"I know. It's…"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm – I need to go out for a while."

"Okay. Reno – don't tell the others. Not yet."

"Sure. Yeah. I mean – I won't." Reno grabbed his clothes from their usual storage place on the floor, and pulled them on with what he knew was indecent haste. He felt like he used to when he was sneaking out of some one-night-stand's room early in the morning. No – actually he felt a whole lot guiltier than that, because those people hadn't been important – but this was _Rude_. For possibly the first time in his life Reno wished he were a better person, but he couldn't make himself do anything else. He needed to get out – he needed air.

Rude watched him for a moment, then got back into bed, and pulled the duvet over himself. "Well – I'm gonna get some more sleep. Guess now I know why I've been feeling so tired lately." The yawn that followed was the fakest thing Reno had ever heard.

Reno felt pretty damn low, knowing that Rude was trying to make it easier for him, but he also knew that he was still leaving. He hesitated though, with his hand on the doorknob. "I – just need to think, you know? I'm comin' back, Par – " He couldn't force the word past the lump in his throat. "I'm comin' back," he finished, instead.

"I know," Rude's deep voice replied, from beneath the duvet.

As he closed the door behind him, Reno wished he were as certain of that as Rude seemed to be.


	2. No Kid of Mine

**Thank you everyone who reviewed so kindly. **

**Poor Rude's not having a lot of fun in this chapter. Reno's trying to, but it doesn't seem to be working...**

* * *

**The Meteor Effect**

**II**

**No Kid of Mine**

Reno woke with a hangover that was a lot less severe than he deserved considering how much he'd drunk, and a very pretty, dark-haired girl lying next to him, who didn't look more than about –

"How old are you?" he demanded, realising that it was the first time in his life he'd really cared about the answer to that question.

"Yeah – good morning to you, too," she replied sleepily. He realised he didn't have a clue what she was called, or where he'd picked her up, or where he was. A quick glance around the room told him little – most buildings these days had this same sparsely furnished, temporary air about them.

"Did we fuck?"

"You don't remember?" The girl rolled over and her lazy smile told him the answer. "Shame. You missed quite a party."

Reno groaned. "At least tell me we were careful."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Yeah. You went on about it for about half an hour. I told you I had it covered, but you still insisted." She laughed. "I nearly told you to fuck off. You were starting to sound like my fucking mom!"

"Yeah – well. You have to be careful. How old _are_ you?"

"Eighteen." She shrugged. "Nearly. Why – how old are you?"

"Crap. You're almost young enough to be my –"

"Who cares? You're hot. Got a smoke left?"

"You shouldn't –"

"You sure you're not my mom in disguise? What's up?"

"Look – sweetheart – I'm sorry. I shouldn't've –"

"It's Celine, _sweetheart_. Look – _Reno_ – it's okay. This is, like, 'a one-night-stand because I've got a lot of shit going on in my life right now' – I get it. You kept saying last night. You asked me if I was okay with it – like, about a million times, and I said yeah. Give me a cigarette."

Feeling numb, Reno looked around the room.

"Oh, I'll get it." Celine leaned across him, her pretty, perky tits almost in his face as she took the nearly empty packet and his lighter from the nightstand beside the bed. Reno's automatic arousal was followed by a completely uncharacteristic feeling of shame, and a sense of utter disorientation. When did he get so old? When did kids this girl's age get to be so sassy? How would he feel if _his_ daughter hooked up with a man nearly twice her age for casual sex? How the fuck had his life become so complicated?

Celine smiled at him through a cloud of exhaled smoke, and offered the cigarette to him. He took it, but when she said, "I don't have to be anywhere. If you want…?" he managed to resist the temptation she shouldn't have been, but still was.

"I'd love to, but I can't. I have to go. Uh – where are we? Is this an inn?"

"No. This is my boyfriend's place." Celine laughed at Reno's expression. "It's okay. We're not exclusive. He's out of town. Oh - don't worry – you don't owe me anything. In case you were wondering."

He had been. Wordlessly he handed the cigarette back to her. He turned away as he dressed, but when he was ready he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. She smiled, and he couldn't detect anything uncertain or fragile in the expression.

"You know – men like me –" Reno began, not knowing what he wanted to say, but feeling the need to warn her somehow.

Celine said, "Yeah - I know men like you. I can take care of myself."

Reno leaned across the bed and kissed her. She ran her tongue along his bottom lip provocatively and murmured, "You could stay for a quick one. It was good – last night."

Reno hated himself, but he wanted to. He _really_ wanted to. He thought of Rude alone at Cliff Resort and the baby that might or might not be his, and he hated himself more as he took off the jacket he'd only just put on, and heard himself saying, "Yeah. Yeah – I guess I could stay a while longer."

x

"Where the hell have you been?" Tseng was furious and Reno couldn't blame him. Looking after Rufus, trying to keep things running while assisting with the construction of a whole new city, and dealing with geostigma patients here at the resort gave the four remaining Turks more than enough work to keep them all busy full time.

"I'm sorry," Reno said, sincerely. "I had some shit to deal with. I'll make up the hours."

Tseng's sceptical expression faded as he looked at Reno and decided that something was genuinely wrong. The lingering odours of smoke, booze and sex that hung around Reno seemed to be evidence of attempts at a cure rather than symptoms of what ailed him.

"Do you have geostigma?" Tseng asked; anger replaced by concern.

"No. No – not that. It's okay. It's done with. I just –"

"Have a shower. Then I want you on duty – the rest of the afternoon and all night. Rude's worked three shifts straight. Elena's been with Rufus for the last four hours."

The remorse on Reno's face was something Tseng had never expected to see. "Shit. Rude shouldn't have had to do that. I'm such a fucking – useless –"

Tseng looked at Reno curiously. Self-recrimination was something Reno just didn't do. Puzzled, Tseng said, "Then make it right."

"Yeah. I'm gonna try – if Rude'll even speak to me. Thanks Boss. How's Rufus?"

Tseng's grim expression answered that question.

"That bad?"

"It's spread to his left eye. Sometimes his vision's normal; sometimes he can't see a thing."

"Fuck. Can't any of us catch a break? I'll be with him in ten. I'm sorry."

Tseng watched Reno leave, disturbed. Something was very wrong. He hoped Reno had been telling the truth when he'd said it was sorted. The last thing they needed at the moment was any more trouble.

x

Rude was curled under the duvet fast asleep and snoring gently when Reno crept into the room to grab a towel and some clean clothes before heading to the showers. Reno laid his apology offering on the nightstand, gathered up his clothes silently, and closed the door softly on his way out.

Eight minutes later, his hair damp and tousled from the shower, Reno was confronted in the doorway of Rufus' bedroom by a livid Elena. "Where the hell were you?" she hissed, her anger only emphasised by the fact that she was whispering. She glanced back into the room. "He's just gone to sleep. _Don't_ wake him up. It's been so bad – all last night. We needed you here. Rude's shattered. Rufus has been so sick – full on attacks." She nodded down at the large bag of dirty clothes and bedding she carried. "Trust you to get back when it's all over. I'd hit you if we didn't need you right now." Reno opened his mouth to apologise, but Elena's fierce scowl shut him up. "Unless it's something worse than the stigma, don't even bother. I'm going to put this lot in the wash. You – get in there, and do your fucking job."

Reno shut the door behind her and leaned against it for a moment, breathing out slowly. _Something worse than the stigma?_ Well – that depended. Best-case scenario – kid died, Rude was fine. Harsh, maybe, but true. Next best – Rude and the kid survived and it wasn't his. _Uncle Reno_ he could just about cope with, if he had to. Anything after that sunk him deeper into nightmare. Rude fine, kid fine, kid Reno's – a lifetime of responsibility for some genetic freak of nature. Rude dead, kid dead – he couldn't even think about having to face the shitty future without Rude. Rude dead, kid alive – fuck no. No.

Moving to the bed, Reno stared down at Rufus. His gut clenched in fear and guilt when he saw how ill the president of Shin-Ra looked compared to only a few days ago. His face was drawn and even paler than usual, the skin almost greenish, with a sickly sheen. His mouth was pinched-looking as if he registered pain even in his sleep. One hand was visible, curled tight on the pillow next to his head. Rufus always refused to let them bandage his hands, and the cloudy marks of the stigma were very dark.

_Shit, Boss!_ Reno thought. _You have to get better. We have to find a cure for this or we're all fucked. _He almost scoffed aloud. _More fucked. _

Reno went over to the couch in the corner of the room, picked up the TV remote and turned the sound off before switching on the picture. He called up the subtitles, and flicked through channels. When he came across a news report where the text at the bottom of the screen read _The Meteor Effect is expected to lead to a massive population explosion in five months' time _he tried to make himself press _channel up_, but his thumb somehow wouldn't obey his command.

With an increasing sense of doom, Reno watched the whole report, learning the extent of the problem, the preparations that were being made to deal with the huge number of deliveries expected on or around 14th October, the plans for hospital and childcare for so many newborns. He watched an interview with a weeping woman who sobbed her joy into the cameras – "They said I would never have children. It's a miracle!" and another with a Priest of Gaia who insisted on calling the event "The Gift of the Planet".

"Yeah," Reno murmured under his breath. "Some gift!"

The news report was followed by a WRO public information programme called, "Caring for yourself and your baby in pregnancy". Reno couldn't stop watching – feeling worse and worse as the list of things to avoid mounted. Smoking. Well – he'd smoked as long as he could remember, on and off. Rude almost never did. _Hope that kid is a clone_, Reno thought, _or it's fucked before it starts. _There was the smoking, the drinking, and what about all the Cures and that morphine they gave him after the plate – would that shit still have been in his system when Rude and he - ? No – he was pretty sure he'd been clean by Meteorfall. At least the kid wasn't gonna be born a junky.

_What am I thinking?_ Reno asked himself, irritated. _It's not gonna be anything. No way it's surviving. Rude's kidding himself. Must be the hormones affecting his brain._

The programme continued, various presenters – almost all female – giving advice on everything from nutrition to memory loss to nursing bras. Reno almost laughed at that one – until he wondered whether the hormones flooding Rude's system might actually somehow affect him in that way. What if he started growing tits? What if they actually produced milk? The thought was so disturbing that Reno switched channels, trying to erase the horrible images from his mind, only to be confronted by Reeve's earnest face, in the middle of an interview about the provision of orphanages.

"Yes," he was saying, "Unfortunately the effect does seem to have been indiscriminate."

_You can say that again!_ Reno thought.

"We're aware that many women had no intention of becoming pregnant, and that, coupled with the lack of availability of safe abortions after Meteor, means that many of these children will be given up. Added to all the orphans created at Meteorfall, there will obviously be a need for more orphanages. I've designed suitable buildings…"

_No kid of mine's growing up in an orphanage!_ The thought was instant and automatic. Reno had spent most of his time between the ages of eight and twelve attempting to run away from the slum orphanage he'd been sent to as a baby, having been abandoned in an old Mako pipe shortly after birth. Only the fact that the pipe had been occupied by a sleeping homeless man, who had woken at his cries and handed him over to the autorities, had saved Reno's life. He'd never known whether his mother had been aware that there was someone in the pipe, or whether he'd been left for dead – or left to die.

The orphanage had not suited him. No one had been unusually cruel to him, but the regime of the institution itself was something he had felt an irresistible impulse to resist. The staff called him recalcitrant and ungrateful. Every time he'd run away he'd been beaten which had only made him more determined not to get caught the next time. When he was twelve he'd finally succeeded in making a permanent escape – or perhaps the staff had just given up trying to bring him back. He'd spent the next three years living rough in the slums and surviving mainly by theft until Shin-Ra caught up with him.

_Yeah_, he thought, uncomfortable that he was even considering such things _– this kid is not going to an orphanage. But then, it won't even survive anyway, so –_

"Tseng?" Rufus' voice was weak, but still clear.

"Uh – no Boss," said Reno, jumping to his feet, and heading for Rufus' bedside immediately. "It's Reno. What do you need?"

x

Rude woke, feeling sore. Ever since the first time he'd felt the baby move, he'd been trying to sleep on his back, worried that his weight would crush her if he lay on the bump. According to the few articles he'd managed to find during his surreptitious net searches when none of the other Turks was around, the amniotic fluid ought to protect the foetus – but that was presumably when the baby was safe in a womb as nature intended, not floating around in the body cavity of a man. Reno was probably right – this child had almost no chance of surviving. Rude wasn't sure why he was so determined to keep her; he only knew that every time he experienced that weird movement – like he was a living goldfish bowl, and he could feel the fish swimming around inside him – or perhaps more like a human birdcage feeling the beating of small wings – he became more sure that he was doing the right thing.

Reno's reaction had upset him more than he liked to admit, but at the same time he could understand it. What was happening to him was freaky and wrong, and he supposed he ought to be disgusted by it. Reno's response was the normal one – revulsion at something so blatantly unnatural. Sitting up in bed, Rude put his hand on the bump and said very quietly, "Okay, kid?" He felt stupid talking to his stomach, but he'd read that the baby would be able to hear by this stage, and he wanted her to know his voice.

The way Reno had instantly distanced himself from the whole thing – yeah, that had hurt. Maybe this kid _was_ some kind of a clone that had somehow become female? But only women who'd actually had sex at Meteorfall seemed to have become pregnant as far as Rude had been able to find out – so wasn't it more likely that this baby would turn out to be Reno's? If so, he'd made it pretty clear that he wanted nothing to do with her.

Not for the first time, Rude asked himself what had possessed him to make a move on his partner and best friend. He knew that no one would believe it had happened that way around. Reno had always been the 'anything goes' type, and although he generally seemed to prefer women, it was common knowledge that he'd been with several men over the years. Rude had never looked at another man beyond a mild sort of curiosity until he'd found himself wondering what it would be like with Reno. Frustratingly, he seemed to be about the only guy in the department Reno didn't occasionally look at with that speculative lift of his eyebrows and the sudden heat in his eyes that Rude, once he'd noticed it, found himself increasingly turned on by. Over the space of the last few months before Meteor appeared, his fascination with Reno had become a kind of secret obsession Rude had never thought he'd confess to. Meteorfall had seemed like his one chance, and he'd taken it. It was supposed to be the end of the world, for fuck's sake! There weren't supposed to be consequences.

Not of this kind, anyway.

Rude sighed, reaching to switch on the lamp, and noticed a magazine lying on the nightstand. _Big Jugs_. Hm. Was that Reno's idea of a joke? An apology? The magazine was obviously meant for him – Reno had always been more of an ass man – and Rude couldn't deny that the friendly-looking brown-haired girl on the cover was hot as hell. It had been a while. A long while. Immediately after Meteorfall there had been no time at all, and anyway, his experience with Reno had left him feeling kind of _confused_ – and then the sickness had begun, and the constant exhaustion. These symptoms, which now he knew were the result of the impossible child growing inside him, he'd thought at first might be the early signs of geostigma, and sex had been the last thing on his mind.

Over the last couple of weeks though, the sickness had all but vanished, and Rude had found himself feeling desire again; sometimes sharp, unexpected desire. Hormones did weird things to the libido, that was for sure. Well – if Reno was back at last it was a safe bet Tseng would have sent him to watch Rufus, so there would be time…

Rude reached for the magazine, murmuring, "Thanks Partner," but as he opened it a second magazine slipped from between its glossy pages. Curious, Rude picked it up and read the title: _You and_ _Your Baby_. Rude stared at the image on the cover – a smiling young mother holding a wide-eyed baby wrapped in a yellow blanket – and tried not to feel too hopeful about what it might mean. Reno had come back, and, whatever else, the magazines were clearly intended as a gift of some kind. That was a start.

Rude slipped the baby magazine under his pillow. There was no reason to think the others would come into the room unannounced, but he really didn't want to tell them what had happened to him – not yet. In a few more weeks it would become impossible to hide, but he still needed time to think about how best to deal with the situation. For now, there was that impressively endowed brunette...

He'd just settled in to a nice, comfortable rhythm, his breath coming a little faster than normal, when a definite, unmistakable, internal kick made him stop abruptly, swearing under his breath – he wasn't sure whether in frustration or awe. That had been by far the strongest kick yet. Surely jerking off couldn't hurt the baby? What if she somehow knew what he was doing? Shit – now he felt like some kind of pervert! Rude pulled the baby magazine back out from under the pillow, and flicked through quickly, scanning for articles about pregnancy and sex, his desire subsiding somewhat, but still there, leaving him feeling guilty and unsatisfied.

The magazine informed Rude that in most circumstances sex and masturbation wouldn't hurt the baby. Orgasm could apparently cause uterine contractions – well, at least that wouldn't be a problem for him! After a while Rude tried again, and this time the baby stayed still. The experiment was physically successful, in that Rude eventually managed to get off, but worry about possible side effects stopped him from relaxing and the whole thing was less of a release than it should have been. Rude reached for the tissues and cleaned himself up, feeling miserable.

Putting both magazines away in the drawer, Rude switched off the light, and lay in the darkness, thinking. Reno was right to worry about the risk to Rude's life – Hearn had told him in precise, clinical detail about the way the placenta had attached itself to his bowel, and the possibility of severe haemorrhage during the surgery that would be required to detach it. And that was the best-case scenario – where the pregnancy ended in a planned operation. If something ruptured before that, then the chances of survival were low. Reno's comparison of the baby to a bomb had been painful for Rude to hear – but more accurate than Reno knew. Continuing with the pregnancy was stupid – Reno was right. But Rude had felt his daughter move inside him – had felt on some instinctive level that he couldn't be responsible for any more death. And this baby was Reno's. Rude had no proof of that – but he believed it to be true. Rude liked women - he liked women very much. He had felt a fierce attraction to the formidable Tifa and her amazing figure. He had been really in love with Chelsea. It had taken him years to get over her. If ever there was a woman he might have left the Turks for – might have wanted children with – she would have been the one…

But Reno was his partner, and in many ways that was a relationship that went deeper than any other in Rude's life. The physical attraction he had come to feel for Reno – that was separate. It had taken him by surprise – astonished him at first – made him question what he'd thought were his own essential realities. But after Meteorfall he'd eventually been forced to admit the truth to himself: he was closer to Reno than to anyone else. Could that be called _love_? It wasn't the same as loving a woman – but that didn't make it _less_. The trouble was that it was apparent that Reno didn't feel the same way. Reno probably saw what had happened between them that day as just another experience – no big deal. He hadn't seemed interested in discussing it after the event – his manner had been entirely business as usual. Rude had kept his feelings to himself, and concentrated on work. But now – now that there was this child – he knew that nothing would persuade him to give her up. She had to survive because something good had to come out of all the wrong things he – and Reno – had done working for Shin-Ra. She had to survive, because she was his and she was Reno's – made by the two of them, together, and Rude wasn't going to allow anything, not even Reno himself, to stand in her way.


	3. Home Truths

**Thank you very much to those people who are reading and reviewing this story. Rude's a bit OOC here I'm afraid, but it's only the hormones. When I was pregnant I used to cry over anything at all. Ducklings in the park - anything. I'm more or less back to normal now, nine years later!**

* * *

**The Meteor Effect **

**III**

**Home Truths**

When Reno's shift finally ended twelve hours later he was grateful to hand over to Tseng, but well aware that he'd got off lightly. Rufus had woken for a few hours, asked for breakfast and a computer, which Reno had provided, and worked until exhaustion overcame him again. He'd spent the last six hours sleeping soundly, and Reno had been relieved to see that his face had relaxed in sleep this time, suggesting that the pain was losing its grip at last – at least for the time being. According to reports Reno had helped to compile, it wasn't uncommon for the stigma to go into periods of remission following a severe attack. He would have prayed if he'd had any kind of faith, and he did fervently hope, that Rufus was entering such a phase now. Perhaps it would buy them enough time to find a cure.

When he reached the room he shared with Rude, Reno couldn't help but feel relieved that there was no sign of his partner. The magazines had gone – was that a good sign?

Reno stripped down to his boxers, draping his clothes over the end of his bed, and pulled the covers over himself. He wanted a cigarette, but the magazine, which he'd flicked through at the newsstand in "Edge", and the programmes he'd watched during his shift with Rufus, had both been very definite about the harmful effects of smoking on an unborn child. If the kid did somehow turn out to be his, then he'd already given it the lousiest possible start, and although he was sure it couldn't survive – hell – although he was sure he didn't _want_ it to survive – he was going to do his level best not to let Rude down again.

It was all down to chance anyway, Reno reflected. If _he'd_ been the one to voice what both of them had been thinking at Meteorfall – if he'd asked Rude to fuck him instead of the other way around – then he'd be the one going through this shit now. And it could have happened that way – it could easily have happened. Only the risk of losing Rude's friendship and respect as a partner had prevented Reno from making a move years ago because – yeah – Rude was hot. Pretty much straight, so Reno had always assumed – but definitely hot. And at Meteorfall it had suddenly seemed to both of them that there was nothing left to lose – but Rude had spoken first, and things had happened in the way that they'd happened…

Yeah. Fucking Rude had definitely been one of the most erotically charged experiences of Reno's life, and something else too – something he didn't want to think about too hard, because once normality had returned it had seemed pretty clear that Rude wanted to put the whole thing behind them and pretend it had never happened. For Rude it had just been a one-off experiment – a fantasy he would never have acted upon without the excuse of Meteor – and now, curiosity assuaged, he had gone back to his real preference for women. Or maybe sex with Reno had just served to confirm that Rude was straight? That was a depressing thought, when Reno found that almost the opposite was true – he couldn't get the memories of how it had been with Rude out of his head, couldn't rid himself of the feeling that it had been _right_, in a way very few of his previous encounters had been.

_Point is_, Reno mused, trying to stop thinking and get the sleep he so badly needed, _it could've been me. And if it had been, I bet my life Rude wouldn't've run out on me like I did on him. Least I can do now is stick with him – until he realises that this just ain't gonna have a happy ending. He's always been too much of a sentimentalist – holding back against Tifa when we fought Avalanche – that mess with Chelsea… I know it's why Tseng promoted me over him – sees too much of himself in Rude – wanted more of a bastard I guess. Yeah – 'cause not giving a fuck about anything? That's something I can do._

The trouble was, when it came to Rude, Reno did give a fuck, and he suspected that it made him weak. What Rude needed was someone prepared to beat the truth into his head until he got the message – _kid's got no chance, and you're risking your life. Get rid of it. _

But Reno knew that he wasn't going to do that – not any more. He was going to go with what his partner wanted, and hope with all he had that it was the right decision, even when his rational mind told him that it was crazy.

"Reno." Rude's voice was carefully neutral. Reno turned over and looked towards the door where his partner stood silhouetted against the brightness of the white lights in the corridor. From this angle Rude's body looked its usual familiar solid shape – strong, male, _normal_. Even when he moved into the room, the lines of his jacket obscured the bump. If you knew it was there you could see that the material was beginning to pull a little out of true, but unless you were looking for it, it would go unnoticed.

"Tseng told me you had to work three shifts," Reno said. "I'll make them up. I'm sorry."

"Forget about it. I'm fine."

"Yeah." Reno almost smiled, reminded of one of Rude's rare ironic idioms. "You're just _peachy_."

Rude stretched out on his bed, taking off his sunglasses and setting them on the nightstand between the two beds. "I am. Sickness has gone. I feel – good. Really."

"Huh," replied Reno, risking a glance across at his partner. "Yeah. You're blooming."

"I guess – yeah."

Reno frowned, picking at the seam of a pillowcase. "I shouldn't've taken off like that."

Rude looked at him. "I get it," he said. "This situation - it's a total headfuck."

Reno felt a surge of pure gratitude. "Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah. It's that."

Rude looked up at the ceiling. "So – what?" he asked. "You got wasted? Got laid?"

"Yeah."

"Hm."

Silence fell between them. After a while, Rude said, "Thanks. For the magazines."

"Oh yeah. I – wasn't – I didn't know -"

"Yeah. Both – useful."

"Uh-huh."

Reno would almost literally have killed for a cigarette. He forced himself to focus, and asked, "So – you talked about tests? To see if it's mine?"

"I looked into it yesterday," Rude said. "It's not a good idea. They have to put a needle in. It's too risky – infection – miscarriage. Which, in my case, I guess would mean she dies, and I have to have an operation."

"Oh."

"We'll have to wait until she's born. Delivered."

"Right. I – it doesn't matter anyway. Not really. I mean – I'm gonna be around, you know?"

"You are?"

"Yeah." Reno made himself meet Rude's eyes. "Yeah. I mean, we're partners, right? It's not what you said – it's not a solo mission. However it happened, we were both there." He rolled onto his back, and looked away. "I mean – if it was me – I reckon you'd stick around, 'n shit."

"Hm," Rude agreed. "But if it was you, you'd get rid of her. You still don't want her."

"No. Not gonna lie. I still think it would be better for everyone if it – if it didn't happen."

"It will. She's strong. You should feel her kick! Let me show you next time she –"

"No!" Everything in Reno recoiled from the idea. He saw Rude's face, and tried to moderate his response, but his revulsion must have been obvious. "No," he said, more quietly. "I can't. Look – tell me what you need. Are there medicines you should be on? It said last night on TV about supplements – vitamins, some kind of acid, or shit? I'll get you those."

"Folic acid. Yeah – it's a bit late to start that. But the scan seemed normal, the doctor said."

"Well – I can do shifts for you. You should rest."

"I'm fine. I'm not ill. I told you – I feel better than I did at the start."

"But you can't fight. You shouldn't –"

"Yeah. It's lucky there's not a lot of that any more."

Reno thought. "We need to go back to Hearn. Get a surgeon sorted who can be ready to do it – when the time comes. And you'll have to tell the others. I can do that, if you want."

"No. I'll see Hearn, but I don't want the others to know. Not until there's no way to hide it. They've got enough to worry about with Rufus. Anyway –"

"What?"

"I know they'll react like you did. They'll tell me not to keep her."

In truth, Reno had been counting on that. Surely Tseng would be able to talk some sense into Rude? Aloud he said, "Only because they'll see that you're risking your life."

"No. Not only that. They'll think she's a freak – like you do."

Reno shook his head, but Rude was right. Whichever way you looked at it, the kid was a freak of nature – which was weird considering that the whole fucked up situation was so _un_natural.

"Yeah, you do," said Rude. "Even though she's most likely _yours_. But the scan was normal. She's a normal baby – just in an abnormal situation."

Reno sighed. "No. You're kidding yourself. It's either some kind of - of, like, mutant clone that's changed gender, or it has the DNA of two guys. Fuck knows what it's gonna look like! It's not normal. I don't even get how it could be female. More than that - I don't get how in hell it formed. I mean – I don't know much about science but even I know that it takes an egg and a sperm to make a baby!"

Rude's voice sounded strange as he said, "Maybe the Lifestream made an egg somehow?"

"I don't know. It makes no sense. This is some weird Hojo-style shit, not a normal baby somehow magically implanted into you. Wake up man! This is all wrong! If you insist on going through with it, then I'll be right here with you – but you have to face the facts – be prepared. Even if it _does_ survive, there's no way it's a normal -"

"Shut the fuck up Reno! Stop calling her 'it'! She's a girl. She's our – fucking –" Rude's voice cracked, and he sat up, turning his back on Reno, facing the opposite wall. Reno got off the bed, and took a step towards Rude, registering his partner's shaking shoulders, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Rude?"

When it came, Rude's reply was a hoarse whisper. "Get out."

"Shit – Rude – I didn't mean –"

"Yeah – you did. Go. Go and be _normal_. Drink – smoke – fuck girls. You don't want this kid, so all that talk about sticking around – that means nothing."

"I'm sorry. I can't - can't be how you want me to about this. I can't."

"Then you're no use to either of us."

"But – I don't want –"

"Fuck off Reno!"

"Rude –"

"Fuck. Off."

Reno grabbed the clothes from the end of his bed, picked up his boots and walked out, slamming the door behind him. In the corridor he leaned against the wall, torn between guilt, hurt and fury, trying to ignore the sounds coming from the room he'd left. Reno had experienced plenty of noises that would give most people nightmares, from the pleas and screams of prisoners under interrogation, to the shrieking of contorting metal as the entire city of Midgar writhed under Meteor's deadly gravity, but he still felt that the muffled sound of Rude's one suppressed sob from behind the door was the most disturbing thing he'd ever heard. Rude did not cry. Shin-Ra may have crumbled – the very planet may have seemed about to rip itself to pieces under their feet – but Rude had been Reno's one fixed point for the whole of his adult life.

_It's just the hormones_, Reno told himself. _Once that thing's out of him, he'll be fine. I don't care what he says; I'm sticking around._

Reno knocked on the door, but there was no reply. When he tried to open it, Rude appeared, sunglasses back in place, shoved him out into the corridor and locked the door. Reno didn't dare to resist, and even if he had – even without Rude's condition to consider - he was no match for his partner in a battle of brute strength.

Reno took his clothes to the living area, dressed quickly, and lay on the couch, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. How had Rude described this whole mess? _A total headfuck_. Yeah – that about summed it up.

x

Rude managed to avoid Reno for the next two days, finding work to do helping the stigma patients in the other lodges and continuing with the medical training he'd started. It was ironic really, he thought, as he sat in a run-down mobile classroom in Edge taking notes on the various different kinds of breech birth; he'd be pretty much a fully-trained midwife by the time his child was ready to be born, and nothing he'd learned concerning births would be of any use to him at all.

He tried to focus on the lecture but his mind kept returning to Reno and his insistence that the baby would be some kind of freaky mutation. Rude understood Reno's shock, and his reluctance to be a parent was hardly surprising – but he couldn't accept the coldness of his partner's attitude to the baby. Even if there did turn out to be something wrong with her, she would still be their daughter, but that clearly meant nothing to Reno. Reno wished her dead. That was the part Rude was finding impossible to accept, even if, intellectually, he understood it.

_It would be better for everyone if this didn't happen_.

Not better for _her_. Not better for Rude. So – better for Reno, then. Well – Reno was a killer – a survivor – a Turk. Why should Rude be disappointed if he acted accordingly? Reno's world was already the way Reno liked it. This baby was nothing but a threat to that.

_I'm a fool_, Rude thought. _Reno hasn't changed – I have. I was everything he is, until this happened. I went and read too much into what happened at Meteorfall, and now I suddenly expect him to be happy that he's the father of this baby! He said he'd be around – reckon that's more than he'd do for some chick he accidentally knocked up. What more do I want? Some kind of happy family scenario? Must be going crazy. I've always been dumb. Thinking there was some kind of future with Chelsea. I guess I'm not really cut out to be a Turk. Reno _is_. Tseng knew that, when he made him Second. Can't blame Reno for being what he is. Not his fault I went and - confused things. Not his fault I went and fell for my own partner. _

_ What would he do if I told him? Laugh. Tell me not to be such a fucking girl. No way he wants that. He wants his partner back. He just wants normal, and hell – who can blame him? _

Rude put his hand on his swollen abdomen, and felt an answering movement, like some underwater creature arching towards the surface and diving away. It was a strange, alien feeling, but it awoke a fierce protective instinct in him that was oddly familiar. He recognised it as an intensified version of the feeling he had when Rufus, or one of the other Turks was in danger. When Reno was in danger.

_Sorry, Reno, _Rude thought. _I can't put things back how they were. Not even for you. Everything's changed – it's all about keeping her safe now. _

x

"Okay, what's going on with you and Rude?"

Reno looked up from updating the spreadsheet of stigma patients at the resort, and assumed a blank expression. "What?"

Elena had that familiar bullshit-detecting look in her eyes, and Reno gave an inward sigh as he realised she wasn't going to be easily deterred.

"You know what I'm talking about. You've been sleeping on the couch in the living room. Tseng was going to offer you the spare bed in his room last night, but you looked so peaceful I thought we should let you sleep."

"Yeah," said Reno, "'Cause Tseng's spare bed has _your_ name on it, right?"

Reno's teasing of Elena about her supposed crush on the Director was so old that it had become an automatic exchange between them. Elena had long ago learned that with Reno the best bet was to roll with whatever he threw at her. "You should know by now that I have absolutely no interest in Tseng's spare bed," she replied, the tiny emphasis on _spare_ so perfectly nuanced that Reno couldn't help smiling.

"Guess I could always sleep in your room," Reno said.

"I only have one bed in my so-called room. It used to be a store cupboard, remember? I think you were the one who saw its – potential. Thanks for that, by the way."

"You're welcome. But I don't take up much room – I'm sure I could -squeeze in somehow…"

Reno had to admit Elena had that look of withering contempt down to a fine art now. He was a great teacher, if he did say so himself.

"Tempting as that sounds, I like my privacy," Elena replied. "Anyway, there's no window, and I'd rather not die of second-hand smoke inhalation."

"Lucky for you I've given up then," said Reno, his expression darkening. Elena seized on the change. "Oh! What – Rude finally had enough? I'm not surprised – those things you smoke are pure, unfiltered poison."

"Yeah well. Like I said – I've given up."

"Since when?"

"Three days ago." Was that all? It seemed an age since he'd found out about the – about Rude.

Elena made a show of sniffing loudly. "You're serious!" she said with exaggerated astonishment. "You actually don't smell of smoke anymore. But Reno – how will anyone know it's you?"

"Ha fucking ha. Never smoked as much as everyone thinks anyway. But – yeah. Guess Rude'll let me back in soon."

It was too easy a surrender, and Elena's eyes narrowed. "That's not it though, is it?"

"Thought we'd given up the interrogations?"

"I guess I'm missing the old days. And you make such a good subject."

"Nothin' to tell, so –"

"You're a terrible liar for a Turk, so -"

"Drop it Laney."

"I will. When you tell me what 'it' is."

Reno grinned unpleasantly. "Okay. Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure."

"I got Rude pregnant, and he wants to keep the baby but I think he should get rid of it. We had a fight and now he's not talking to me."

Elena shook her head. "You're a sick bastard sometimes Reno. Okay, don't tell me."

"That's all I got."

"Fine. Whatever it is, sort it out before it gets to be a problem, okay? Tseng can do without the drama."

"It's a girl," said Reno, "apparently. What do you think we should call her?"

"Oh I don't know," said Elena, arms folded across her chest, her expression fierce. "If she takes after her dad, how about Dumbass Fuckwit Junior?"

"Has a certain ring to it," Reno nodded.

"Whatever. I have work to do." Elena headed for the door. Her parting shot was, "Poor kid – you as a father!"

"Yeah," said Reno under his breath, turning his attention back to the spreadsheet. "Poor kid."

x

By the end of the day Reno was wishing he'd never had the conversation with Elena. Stupid as it was, Elena's name for the kid was still a name, and Reno found he was starting to think about the thing in Rude's abdomen as a _she _instead of an it, in spite of his best efforts.

_If she does survive, she will have to have a name_, he thought. _Some kinda girl name. I dunno – Rudette? Is that a name_? He thought of the girl from Edge, Celine, and almost winced. _Not gonna be the name of anyone I ever fucked. Huh - that narrows it down a bit. And not Tifa. Not Chelsea. Or maybe Rude'll want to call her Chelsea? That would be weird. Would that be weird? Ah – stop thinkin' this way. Rude's the one who wants the kid – I guess it's his call. _

At the end of his shift, Reno went back to the room he shared with Rude expecting it to be empty, but he found Rude sitting on the bed, reading a medical textbook.

"Hey," Reno said from the doorway, awkward and wary.

Rude looked up briefly. "Reno."

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Reno sat on his own bed, looking down at his hands. Rude pretended to be absorbed in the book.

"Still not talkin' to me, huh?"

"Is there anything to say?"

"I was wondering – if you'd thought about names?"

Rude put down the book. "You were?"

"Yeah. She'll need a name."

Reno made himself look directly at Rude. After what seemed like a very long time to Reno, Rude nodded, once. Reno released the breath he'd been holding.

"I've had a few ideas," Rude said.


	4. Everybody's Business

**Thank you so much to the kind people who have read and reviewed. It's very much appreciated. This is a bit of an inbetweeny chapter I'm afraid, but I've been working on the story today, and the end is in sight. **

**Warning - a bit of Reno/Rude in this one. **

* * *

**The Meteor Effect**

**IV**

**Everybody's Business**

For the next six weeks Rude managed to work as normal, Reno covering for him on the odd occasion when a situation in Edge threatened to turn hostile, or heavy lifting was required. Reno had managed to obtain fuel from somewhere – Rude hadn't asked exactly how – and once a week he drove Rude to Hearn's surgery for a check up. Hearn had been given a reconditioned ultrasound monitor, rescued from the rubble of Midgar. Not even Rude knew that Reno was the one who'd tracked it down on the swiftly growing black market, and had got it working. So far the news was good – the placenta was firmly attached and the baby growing normally. Reno had even been present for the last scan, although he still refused to touch Rude's increasingly distended abdomen to feel the baby when it moved.

When they returned to Cliff Resort after the latest appointment, Rude said, "It's nearly twenty four weeks, Reno. If she was delivered now, there's a chance she could survive."

Reno forced himself to sound pleased as he said, "Well – that's good. Rude – Elena said something yesterday about you putting on weight. I think we'll have to tell them soon."

"Next week," Rude said firmly. "We'll tell them next week."

That night, Reno woke suddenly in the darkness. What was wrong? Oh yeah – Rude wasn't snoring, that was it. He'd been complaining in the past few days that the baby was lying heavily on his bladder, and he kept on having to get up in the night to piss. When he was asleep he always lay on his back, and the snoring was incredible, although Reno never seemed to have trouble sleeping through it. Now though, Rude's quiet, rapid breathing told Reno that his partner was awake.

"You okay?" Reno asked.

"Shit!" Rude swore softly. There was a rustling of bedding, and then he said, "Yeah. Couldn't sleep."

Reno realised what he'd interrupted. More than five months without real sex – Rude must be going crazy!

"You want me to leave you alone? I can go watch TV or something."

"No, Reno. It's – fine."

"Guess it's been a while?"

"Yeah. Not a thing I can explain to a date – be careful of the baby."

"Yeah, I guess." There was a long pause. "You know, Partner – that don't have to be a solo mission either."

"Hm?"

"I mean – if you wanted…"

Rude didn't reply.

"Partner?" Reno persisted.

Rude's voice was very low as he said, "If… you…"

There was a creak of bed springs, then Reno's warm breath was against Rude's ear as he said, "Move over," and Reno's hand was cool on his thigh as he settled into the narrow bed beside him. Without further comment Reno reached for Rude's cock, stroking it sensually, taking his time. During their fevered coupling at Meteorfall there had been no time to take it slowly – they'd both believed they had minutes to live.

Lying beside his partner, Reno could feel the wound up tension in Rude. Stroking more firmly, Reno shifted himself closer, his almost-naked body tight up against Rude's warmth. He kissed Rude's throat experimentally, and murmured, "Relax."

"Yeah," Rude sighed, his hips lifting slightly as he pushed himself against Reno's hand. "Yeah, that's good."

"Mm," Reno agreed. He was more turned on than he'd been for a long time and he couldn't help pressing himself against the taut curve of Rude's muscular thigh as he rubbed harder, his grip on Rude's cock tightening. Rude's breath caught and the sound sent a spike of lust straight to Reno's groin.

Reno felt Rude's fingers against the side of his face, and then in his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. Reno licked at the fullness of Rude's lower lip, catching it between his teeth gently, remembering how good it had been kissing Rude last time, revelling in the familiar smell of his partner's skin, the heat of his mouth, the sharply rekindled memory of the way he tasted.

Beneath his palm Reno felt the tightening and thickening of flesh that told him Rude was close to the edge. He kissed Rude harder, his tongue sliding deep into Rude's mouth, his hand on Rude's cock squeezing just tight enough –

Rude moaned, his back arching off the bed, hips jerking upwards as he came.

"Fuck!" he panted. "Fuck, Reno!"

"Yeah," said Reno, and Rude could feel that sexy smile against his lips before Reno kissed him again.

They lay side by side for a while, neither of them feeling the need to say anything. When Rude's breathing had returned to normal, he asked, "You want me to -?"

Reno was still hard, but he felt as though accepting Rude's offer would be somehow taking advantage. "Thanks," he said, "but - not right now." Reno hesitated, then added, "You know – all that shit before, when I left? I just – It was only because…"

"I know."

Rude moved away, searching for the tissues in the dark. Reno wondered whether to go back to his own bed, but he was too comfortable to move until Rude kicked him out. When Rude lay down again, Reno settled along side him, his head on Rude's shoulder. Rude slid his arm around Reno, his hand warm against Reno's back, his fingers playing with the ends of Reno's ridiculously long hair. In other circumstances Reno might have rested his free arm on Rude's abdomen, but something in him still recoiled from the idea of touching that unnatural bump, and he held his arm against his own chest instead. But – it was good, being so close to Rude again.

Reno was almost asleep when Rude said, "She's awake now!"

Reno tensed. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Rude reached for Reno's hand, put his own over it, and said, "Try?"

Reno swallowed. "I –" Rude made no attempt to move Reno's hand. Reno thought again about how it could just as easily have been him in Rude's position now, and whispered, "Okay."

Rude guided his partner's unresisting hand to the right position and pressed down on it gently. "There," he said. "Feel that?"

Under Reno's palm Rude's belly jumped suddenly, a definite upward motion, followed by a rolling sensation. Without any further prompting from Rude, Reno's fingers tracked the motion from one side of Rude's abdomen to the other.

"That's her?" Reno asked, his voice hushed.

"That's her. Dancing around all over the place tonight. Reckon she'll never keep still – like you."

"She's really in there."

"Yeah."

"Whoa! There she goes again!"

"Uh huh."

"This is really happening isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah." Reno didn't know what he felt. The fact of the baby – the baby that could be his daughter – that was undeniable now. And when she'd moved, he had felt something not entirely negative. But the bigger she grew, surely the bigger the risk to Rude? Hearn had explained that getting the baby out would be the easy part. Removing the placenta and the section of Rude's bowel it had attached to – that was where the real danger lay. Reno made himself ask, "When do you think they'll deliver her?"

"Hearn's arranged a meeting with the surgeon tomorrow. After that, I'll tell Tseng and Elena. Tseng can decide what to tell Rufus. But the longer she stays inside me growing, the better her chances."

"What about _your_ chances?" Reno asked.

"I'll take my chances."

Reno said nothing.

"Come with me tomorrow," Rude said.

"Okay, Partner," Reno replied.

x

"They've gone off on the bike again?" Tseng asked Elena.

"Yes. Every week, at about this time. Reno always has a different excuse, but I know something's going on. And Reno's been acting strangely around Rude, too."

"Strangely how?"

"I don't know how to describe it. Sort of – _protective_."

"Now you say that, I did think it was odd last week," said Tseng thoughtfully. "That crowd-control issue down by the Shin-Ra building. Normally Rude would step up in those circumstances, but Reno got right between him and the ringleaders. It was overkill, too, on Reno's part. He was almost _feral_ – haven't seen him like that for years. Mind you, it was effective. They took one look at Reno and backed the fuck off."

"You think Rude's sick?" Elena looked miserable. "I mean – he's been putting on a few pounds."

"Yes. Quite a few."

"I asked Reno about it, but he brushed it off. Something's up."

"You're right. I just hope it's not the stigma. That time Reno went AWOL weeks ago – I asked him if _he_ had geostigma and he said no. It never occurred to me that it might have been because Rude was sick."

"But all the stigma patients I've seen _lose_ weight."

"I don't think it's the stigma. I'll talk to both of them – as soon as they get back."

x

Reno watched the faces of the two surgeons as they studied the images on the monitor. They both looked serious, but underneath their professional demeanour Reno could sense the excitement they couldn't suppress.

"Unbelievable!" the woman – Blake – said, sounding awed. "If you wanted to manufacture a male pregnancy you couldn't have picked a better spot for the placenta to attach."

The man – Hendricks – nodded. "Good blood supply – optimum room for the foetus to develop…"

Blake turned to smile at Rude. "Your body's doing the best job anyone could hope for in this – uh – unique situation. The baby looks completely normal."

Rude glanced at Reno. "Normal," he said.

"Yeah," Reno replied. "I heard. Let's just - wait until she's born, huh?"

"When do you think?" Hendricks, the abdominal surgeon, asked Blake, the obstetrician.

"I'd say between thirty-five and thirty-six weeks, if possible. We want her delivered before the general rush of the Meteor Effect starts, but we want to avoid the problems that prematurity brings." She looked at Rude. "We'll give you steroid injections to boost her lung development. That's the biggest risk with being born early."

Rude looked down at his own body, smiling ruefully. "Could probably use some of that," he said. "Feel enough like a woman as it is!"

Reno had avoided thinking too much about the physical changes the pregnancy had wrought on Rude's body until now, but he couldn't help looking as Blake said cheerfully, "Well, I'm not an endocrinologist, but I'd say that your breast development is minimal considering all the oestrogen that must be floating around in your bloodstream right now."

Reno's eyes were drawn irresistibly to Rude's nipples. He was appalled to see a slight, but distinct, swelling beneath each one.

"Don't worry," Blake told Rude. "They should return to normal, afterwards. As for the stretch marks –"

Again, Reno tried not to look, but failed. A series of dark lines snaked their way upwards around the sides of the bump in Rude's abdomen. Well – they weren't so bad. He'd seen worse on some women –

"I've seen much worse," said Blake, echoing Reno's thoughts. "They'll fade in time. You have good skin. Have you been using olive oil? Or cocoa butter?"

"Has he fuck!" Reno exclaimed. "He's a _dude_, man!"

"And _I'm_ not a man," Blake said mildly.

"Yeah – I've been using oil," Rude put in. Reno stared at him.

"What?" asked Rude. "It said to – in that magazine you bought. And the Boss has that extra virgin stuff in the kitchen…"

For once, Reno was lost for words.

Hendricks was taking measurements from the screen. "The operation will be risky," he said. "Even though the placenta is joined to the bowel in an accessible position, there's still a high likelihood of excessive bleeding. We'll need a lot of blood on stand-by, and there's a massive shortage at present. It's a relatively rare group – about seven percent of the population."

"You can have mine," Reno said at once. "We're the same blood group. We found out once – at work."

"You're both blood donors?" Hendricks asked. "That's commendable. I only wish more people would come forward. Even now – with all that's happened – we're still so short…"

Reno glanced at Rude, but neither of them chose to disabuse Hendricks. True – they'd donated blood to each other and some of the other Turks, after various work-related injuries, but it was a drop in the ocean compared to the amount they'd spilled.

"We'll take some today," Hendricks said to Reno. "Normally we'd wait twelve weeks between donations, but we don't have that kind of time. We might manage three lots from you, although you'd need iron. We'll have to try to get some stocks in."

"I have limited supplies," said Dr. Hearn, who was watching proceedings and taking notes.

"I'll get enough," Reno said. "Don't worry."

"But where –" Hearn began.

"I know some people," Reno replied. Hearn remembered how things used to be under the plate, and only nodded.

Blake and Hendricks had been conferring quietly. Blake turned to Rude, and said, "We're going to aim for a month before the due-date. With the injections, the lungs should be mature enough to cope, and it looks as though there's still room for growth. It's a good thing it was you and not –" She glanced at Reno, and for the first time since he could remember, Reno found himself blushing.

Rude looked up at him. "Had to tell them," he said. "They needed to know, for medical history – the genetic implications. Hearn's been researching."

"Yeah," said Reno, angry. "Bet you're all loving this, ain't ya? Something unknown to medical science. But you publish a word about this – you tell anyone – and I'm comin' after you personally."

"Calm down," Rude warned, putting a restraining hand on his partner's arm. Reno shook it off.

"I mean it," he growled. "Shit – it's like – it's everyone's business…"

"Try it from this end," Rude said.

Reno subsided, glowering at the three medics.

Hendricks sounded a little nervous as he said, "You'll need to come into the hospital on the thirteenth. We'll prep that evening – bloods, scans and so on - and perform the operation the following morning."

"That's the best operating theatre?" Reno demanded.

Hendricks grimaced. "There are five more almost complete. Reeve Tuesti's promised them for two weeks before the main event. For the moment, the two rooms at the Hope Street hospital are the only theatres we have."

"What are her chances?" Rude asked.

"As long as everything continues as it is, her chances are excellent," Blake said.

Reno looked at her, hearing what she wasn't saying, loud and clear. As Rude was getting changed back into his clothes after the scan, Reno followed the two surgeons into a side room – little more than a cupboard – where Blake began to draw the first of the blood donations from his arm. As the bag filled with the precious dark liquid, Reno asked Hendricks, "What are _his _chances? Realistically?"

Hendricks didn't hedge or procrastinate. "About fifty-fifty," he said. "The more blood you can get hold of, the better. You know the type. Just make sure it's legitimate and properly labelled. I'll use our supplies first, but we may need extra, depending on how it goes."

"I'll get it," Reno replied, fighting to sound reasonable when he wanted to yell and kill something. Fifty-fifty – that wasn't good enough, and he felt a sudden sickening certainty that things weren't going to turn out well. Was this the Lifestream punishing him for the things he'd done? All those souls from Sector Seven? It sure felt like a horrible kind of vengeance.

_What's the worst thing we could do to Reno?_

_Kill his partner, and give him a kid to look after for the rest of his life – a kid he doesn't want, but who he won't be able to give up because of guilt. Yeah – guilt because he knows it could have been him – and he knows she's his kid. She's his kid – he did that to Rude. He killed his own partner – the only person he's ever really –_

Stop it.

Reno looked up at Hendricks, trying to hide the desperation he felt. "I'll get the blood," he repeated. "As much as you need. I'll get it."

x

Reno hadn't even closed the door of the lodge behind them, when Tseng entered the living room and said, "I'd like to talk to both of you."

Rude nodded. Reno said, "Yeah. I guess it's time."

Tseng looked from Reno to Rude. "All right. Let's go up to the office."

The office was a cramped room on the first floor of the lodge. It had been converted from a bedroom, the fitted closet now housing the photocopier, a filing cabinet and drawers full of tools and stationary. Two mismatched desks were pushed together in the centre of the room, with four plastic chairs arranged around them. There were two working laptops, an ancient desktop computer that barely functioned and two phones. In one corner stood the malfunctioning coffee machine - the only other piece of office equipment they'd so far salvaged from the Shinra building.

The three Turks took seats around the desks, Reno and Rude next to each other, facing Tseng who said, "Talk. I think you may be about to answer my questions."

Rude glanced at Reno, who took the cue. "Okay," he said, taking a breath. "This is gonna be hard to believe but – well – Rude – I mean – _we_ – well – Rude's the one who's actually – but it's both of ours we think –"

Tseng raised an eyebrow. Rude undid the zipper on his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. "I'm twenty-four weeks pregnant," he said. "The Meteor Effect."

"B –" Tseng's automatic protest died on his lips as he was confronted by the evidence of his eyes. "How?" he said, instead.

Reno and Rude looked at each other, then anywhere but at Tseng.

"Was – supposed to be the end of the world," Reno mumbled. "And Rude – we –"

"I don't mean that!" Tseng interjected quickly, noticing, by the way, that when Reno was really embarrassed his tattoos became almost invisible. "I mean how is this physically possible? I assume you've seen doctors? That's where you've been vanishing to every week?"

"Yeah. Remember Hearn?"

Tseng nodded. "Corneo's go-to guy?"

"And ours at times. Yeah. He's been arranging things. But he doesn't know how this happened. Something to do with the Lifestream. We were practically swimming in it."

"And the baby's – okay?"

"Normal little girl, so Hearn says. And Blake – the obstetrician."

"How many people know about this?"

"Three, outside this room. Hearn, Blake and Hendricks – surgeon. Oh – and the original sonographer, but she had no idea who we were. Blake will be getting the baby out – Hendricks will sort out Rude – after." The colour had vanished from Reno's face now – in fact he looked paler than usual. He bit his lip before adding, "We're gonna need a lot of blood. In case…"

"I see." Tseng looked at Rude. "When did you find out about this?"

"Two months ago."

"So you decided to go ahead with it."

Rude's chin lifted. "Yeah."

Tseng's gaze shifted to Reno, and he was unable to keep a note of accusation out of his tone as he asked, "And you were fine with that?"

There was only a slight hesitation before Reno said, "Yeah. We're in this together."

"She's viable now," Rude stated, emphatically. "I'd prefer it if you didn't say anything."

Tseng considered Rude, his own expression unreadable. At last he said, "All right. We'll need to think about the logistics. You're not thinking of leaving?"

"No!" exclaimed Reno and Rude in unison.

"Good. So – how long do we have?"

"I'm going in on the thirteenth of September," Rude said.

"And Reno with you, I suppose. Well, I'm sure Elena and I will be able to cope for a few days, assuming Rufus… If there's an emergency you'll have to come straight back, Reno."

"Yes, Boss."

"Are you planning on having the child here with you?"

Reno glanced at Rude, who said simply, "Yes." Reno looked at the scuffed formica desk top. He hadn't really thought about what would happen to the kid after she was born; all his focus had been on Rude. The undisguised incredulity in Tseng's voice made him realise, suddenly, how crazy the whole situation was. How could they possibly have a kid living _here_, with Rufus sick, and no space as it was? They'd need _stuff_ – all the stuff babies needed – whatever that was. Cots and shit. Clothes. Those stuffed animal toys kids carried around – little chocobos and moogles or whatever. Yeah – they were going to need a whole ton of stuff, at the same time as half of Edge needed the same. Fuck – he'd better get on it. He had a brief mental picture of himself asking one of his former slum contacts – Katsu, say, or Estavan – to source under-the-counter diapers, and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I'm taking you off outside active duty," Tseng was saying to Rude. "You'll be on double shifts with Rufus, and Elena can do more patrol work. Anything we need doing in Edge, the rest of us will handle. Unless double shifts will be too much?" Tseng was doing a good impression of being in control, Reno thought, but he could tell the director was pretty thrown. He'd never had a pregnant member of the department to deal with before – let alone a male one. Like Reno had always said, Turks and kids didn't go together.

"Double shifts will be fine," Rude replied. "Thank you."

"Well – I suppose that's all we need to say for now," concluded Tseng. "I think Elena should know, but I'll put off telling Rufus for a couple of weeks. He's improving at the moment – I don't want any setbacks."

"I'll tell Elena," Reno said. "I – kind of told her before, because she was asking about Rude, and I knew she'd think I was kidding. She might get mad…"

"All right. I'd better go - I'm due to take over from Elena. We'll talk about the implications of this later." Tseng left the office, frowning, unsure what to do. He felt angry about the situation, but he could hardly blame either Reno or Rude for something neither of them could possibly have predicted.

Reno was about to stand up when Rude leaned over and kissed him. Despite what had happened between them in the darkness of their room, Reno felt a shock like electricity run through him at the unexpected intimacy of the gesture here in the office, in daylight, and he pulled back, startled.

"Not that I'm complaining," he said, half smiling, "But – what was that for?"

"You told Tseng that we're in this together. You told him she's _ours_," Rude said.

Reno was still far from certain that his decision to support Rude was the best course of action, but he was committed to it now, for better or worse. "Yeah," he said, with what he hoped looked like a convincing smile, "Well – I think you're right. She most likely is both of ours. And even if she isn't, she still kind of is, you know?"

x

It was late in the evening before Reno caught up with Elena. Rude was on duty with Rufus, and Tseng was doing a final patrol of the other lodges before getting some sleep. Reno, off duty, should have been sleeping himself, but he wanted to explain matters to Elena first.

"Reno," Elena nodded, throwing herself onto the couch and reaching for the remote. "What a day! Kilmister kicking off about needing more supplies – honestly sometimes I could murder that man. Is he really doing any good?"

"Dunno," Reno replied. "Rufus seems to think he might be on to something. Otherwise I'd take him out myself. Anyone who worked with Hojo…"

"Yeah. What're nice guys like us doing associating with people like him, huh?"

Reno's vague smile didn't reach his eyes, but Elena was channel hopping and didn't notice.

"Do you mind turning that off? There's something I need to tell you."

Elena was about to protest when she saw that Reno was serious.

"Sure," she said, switching off the TV. "What's up?"

"You know what I said about Rude and me, that time he threw me out of our room?"

Elena frowned. "What – that 'hilarious' crap about your baby?"

"Yeah. Only – it wasn't crap. It was true. I mean – I knew you wouldn't believe it, but…"

"Come on Reno! It wasn't even funny the first time."

"It's not. It's not funny. Rude might – the operation's risky. We have about eleven weeks and then…"

"What are you talking about? What part is true? Not the baby part obviously. What operation? Is Rude sick? Because Tseng and I were wondering -"

Reno shook his head. "I should've done this with Rude. He could have shown you. But I felt bad – telling you, and not telling you. It was _all _true. Rude's - pregnant." Saying it out loud still stuck in Reno's throat. "You must've noticed he's – changed."

"Well – yes. That's why we thought he might be sick. We thought that maybe he was on some sort of drugs for an illness we didn't know about, and they were making him gain weight. But men can't have babies Reno."

"I know! But he is. It was something to do with the Lifestream. We were right there, when the Lifestream came out of the planet. The Meteor Effect."

"But that's only women, isn't it. _Isn't_ it?"

"Only women and Rude."

Elena's eyes widened. "But you said – back then you said, '_I _got Rude pregnant'!"

"Yeah. That's what we think happened. We won't know if it – if she's mine until they can do tests after she's born."

"What – but, what – so you – and Rude –"

Reno found that he was getting very tired of feeling embarrassed. Why the hell should he be? If he wanted Rude – if Rude wanted him - that was their business. Trouble was the baby made it public, like walking around wearing a big badge saying: "I fucked my partner". And while Reno would have been more than happy to do that in the past, this situation made everything different. Suddenly everyone seemed to think they had the right to comment. What must it be like for Rude – everyone knowing that Reno had –

"What – so _you_ –" continued Elena dubiously, her mind jumping instantly to that very point.

"Yeah! Yeah, okay? Me. Me and Rude. What – you want me to draw you a picture?"

"Ugh – _no_! But, I mean – everyone knows that _you _– but _Rude_? _Seriously_?"

Reno's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Everyone knows that I _what_?"

Elena actually had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. "Well – I mean, everyone knows you're not fuss – uh - I mean you don't mind which…" She trailed off, looking at her feet. Reno waited.

Elena looked up, scowling. "Oh come on Reno. You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. I'm a whore and Rude's a fuckin' virgin. How long have you known us?"

"I didn't mean that. But Rude's straight, isn't he?"

Reno shrugged. "Labels. It was the end of the world! And it's not the point."

"No. Does Tseng know?"

"Yes, since this afternoon. He doesn't want the boss to know – not yet."

"Right. Yes, got it." Elena flipped back her hair in a way that reminded Reno of Rufus. "So," Elena said, trying to accept what her rational mind told her must be impossible, "Rude's really having a baby?"

"Yes."

"A girl, like you said before?"

"Yes."

"And it'll be dangerous – for Rude?"

Reno looked utterly miserable. "Haven't told him this – but the doc reckons fifty-fifty. Don't tell him!"

"Of course not. Reno – this is…"

"Yeah."

"Tell me what I can do?"

Reno looked at Elena. "Thanks," he said. "I didn't want to ask you, 'cause I thought you'd think it was only 'cause you're a chick an' all, but I need to know. What shit do babies need?"

Elena stared at him. "I – don't know. I don't know anything about them. But I'll find out. Leave it to me – you take care of Rude. I'll get everything ready."

x

Reno woke with the alarm at ten to four in the morning, and realised that he'd fallen asleep in Rude's bed again. Rude was fast asleep – he had some kind of inbuilt mechanism for detecting alarms that were meant for him and ignoring those that weren't – and Reno carefully moved the arm that was draped over his waist before getting up silently, and dressing in near darkness so as not to wake his partner.

When he arrived at Rufus' room five minute's later, Tseng let him in. Rufus was still sleeping.

"How is he?" Reno asked.  
"Better, lately," Tseng whispered. "Since the last set of attacks six weeks ago, he's been improving. He can see out of his left eye again. How's Rude?"

"Seems fine," Reno said. "Should be fine until the operation, Blake and Hendricks think."

"Good. But I have to tell you, I think he's insane trying to continue with the pregnancy."

"Tell me about it!"

Tseng glanced back to check that Rufus was still sleeping, then drew Reno out into the corridor where they could talk without waking the President, leaving the door half open. "What? I thought you were all for it?"

"No! I hate this whole fucked up mess! Don't you think I tried to talk him out of it? But he's made up his mind. What else can I do? Leave him to do everything on his own? Anyway – it's too late now. The dangerous part of the operation has to happen, kid or no kid. Even when he told me, it would still have been dangerous then. I thought the kid most likely wouldn't survive, but now it looks like it might…"

"How likely is it that Rude will survive this?" Tseng asked.

Reno looked at him, his expression as bleak as Tseng had ever seen it. "Fifty-fifty. He doesn't know – only that it's risky."

Tseng couldn't hide his shock. "That's – unacceptable! I wouldn't authorize a mission with those odds, unless…"

"Unless there was no choice," Reno finished for him. "It's unacceptable, but it's happening, so I guess we all just gotta deal."

"Would someone care to tell me what's going on?"

Reno and Tseng turned to see Rufus Shinra, wrapped in a finely woven woollen blanket, standing just behind them.


	5. Reactions

**This story was supposed to be a quick one shot but it grew! Thank you to all who have read and reviewed. I know it's not my usual subject matter, but I've enjoyed writing it. It ended up at six chapters and more than 28,000 words all together! I will post the final chapter straight after this one. Phew - now I can go back to writing what I'm supposed to be writing...**

* * *

**The Meteor Effect**

**V**

**Reactions**

Rude knocked on Elena's door, hoping that she hadn't already gone to bed after her shift.

"Who is it?" she called from inside, her voice muffled by the heavy wood.

"Rude."

"Oh! Yes – hold on –"

A moment later Elena opened the door. She was wearing a fluffy purple bathrobe with the embarrassing-but-warm moogle slippers Reno had bought for her that time at the Gold Saucer. Her smile couldn't hide the weariness in her eyes.

"Reno told you?" Rude asked.

"Yes. Oh – congratulations!"

Rude looked at her, surprised, and smiled back. "You know, you're the only person who's said that."

"I suppose it's just…"

"Yeah," said Rude. They stood in silence for a moment, until Elena remembered herself.

"Oh – come in! I – there's not much room." Quickly she took her uniform clothes off the bed and hung them in the narrow closet. Gesturing to the bed, she said, "Please, sit down."

Rude sat, and Elena sat next to him, since there was no room in her converted store cupboard for a chair.

"I wanted to ask you something," Rude said. "Reno doesn't know this – but the operation is going to be very risky. Hendricks told me fifty-fifty."

Elena started to say something, but Rude said, "Promise me you won't tell Reno. Promise me, if I die, you'll help him out. He'll need it."

"You didn't need to ask me that," Elena said. "Rude – of course I'd help. But you can't think like that – you'll be okay."

"I hope so. But, in case I'm not... I don't just mean helping with the feeding and changing and all that. I mean – help him want her. He's trying so hard, but he hates the idea of her, I know. She'll need him. If I'm not around… Don't let him give her up. Give up on her. I don't know…"

"But it'll be different when he sees her, won't it?" Elena said. "I mean – people _bond_, don't they? I read that they do. I don't know anyone who's had a baby – not really. Turks don't, I suppose."

"No."

Elena did her best to sound upbeat. "Don't worry. Of course, if it came to it, I'd do what you said. But it won't be necessary. You're going to be fine. I told Reno I'd get everything ready – diapers, clothes, all that. I've made a list. I –"

They were interrupted by a firm knock on the door, and Tseng's voice saying, "Elena? Rufus would like to see you in his office now. And Rude. He's not in his room; is he there?"

Rude hid a smile as Elena leapt to her feet, shook off the purple robe and shoved it under the bed. She was wearing a short black silk nightgown underneath, and she quickly took a matching robe from the closet, pulling it on as she called out, "Yes, Sir! Rude's here. We were just discussing the – uh – situation." She ran her fingers through her hair quickly before opening the door.

Tseng only nodded to her, and looked beyond her at Rude. "Rufus knows," he said. "He overheard me talking to Reno. He'd like to talk to you. To all of us."

Rude got to his feet slowly, and Elena really registered the size of the bump under his jacket for the first time.

Elena followed Tseng and Rude along the corridor, shivering slightly in the thin robe that was so much more sophisticated than the fluffy purple one, but also not nearly as warm. But imagine if Tseng had seen her in that! And at least her feet were nice and – oh. Oh shit. Elena looked down and realised that she was still wearing the absurd moogle slippers. Hastily she kicked them off, leaving them where they fell, hoping that Tseng hadn't already noticed them. She felt guilty for worrying about such trivial things when Rude was going through so much, but her feelings for Tseng just refused to go away however sensible she tried to be. She'd long ago accepted that there was nothing she could do to change that, and probably never would be. And at least the pale pink polish on her toenails had been recently applied and wasn't chipped, even if her feet were already turning an interesting shade of blue in the cold early morning air.

x

Rufus was standing looking out of the window into the grey light of dawn when Rude, Elena and Tseng entered the office. The wheelchair he hated, but needed to use for any journey of more than a few steps, was pushed back against the office wall. Reno was also standing, propped against the edge of Rufus' desk – a simple, cleanly designed piece of furniture brought from one of the company houses in Kalm. It was about a tenth of the size of the old president's massive desk on the seventieth floor of the ShinRa building.

Rufus turned and looked at his four remaining Turks in turn, his good eye piercingly blue, but the left, still clouded by the stigma, a dull smoky grey. His voice, however, was unchanged as he said, "It seems we're facing a somewhat unusual situation – but I suppose we've been getting used to those lately."

"Sir," Tseng said at once, "I've drawn up a contingency plan for the immediate future. During the – uh – birth itself, Elena and I will cover –"

"I'm sure you'll cope admirably as always," Rufus interrupted, his tone as calm and unhurried as ever. He looked at Rude, and the expression on his face was curious, Reno thought – unsettling – somehow anticipatory. "A child of the Lifestream," Rufus said. "Created by an energy so powerful that even the normal laws of nature can't withstand it. This is – truly miraculous."

Reno took an automatic step towards Rude. "She's a normal baby," he heard himself saying to Rufus. "The doctors all agree on that."

"Of course," Rufus replied, and his smooth, soothing tone instantly had Reno's hackles rising. "But she's also much more than that. Something new. Something –" Warned by Reno's expression, Rufus changed tack. "A symbol," he said. "A new start." He smiled at Rude. "New life. Now – what do I need to do to make sure your child arrives safely?"

"We need blood," Reno answered. "Lots of blood."

"Of course," agreed Rufus. "There will be a widespread need I expect. Has Reeve taken account of that?"

"Doc Hendricks told me that Reeve believes blood donation should remain voluntary," Reno replied. "But people aren't coming forward. Scared of the stigma."

"That will have to change," Rufus said. "Some situations call for emergency measures. Tseng – arrange a meeting with Reeve as soon as possible. I think it's time to let him know that his sleeping partner has woken up. What about surgeons? Kilmister might know –"

"We have that covered, Sir," Rude said immediately. Reno was less subtle. "Kilmister! If he comes anywhere near I'll kill him myself. Fuckin' quack –"

Rufus merely raised an eyebrow and Reno fell quiet.

"Very well. If you're sure your surgeons are the best available. And equipment for the baby?"

"I'm on it, Sir. There are shortages, obviously, but I've made a start," Elena replied.

"I'll provide whatever funds are necessary," Rufus told her. "There may not be much left of ShinRa, but there's always money. Rude – do you have Restore materia?"

"Yes, Sir. We all have," Rude replied. "It's still working. Just that, since Meteorfall, it's stopped replicating."

"Yes. We've had some reports of materia failing with use, too. You should all try not to use yours unless it's absolutely necessary. We need to make sure Rude comes through this unscathed."

"Too right, Boss," Reno agreed.

Rufus nodded, and leaned forwards, both hands on the desk, as though merely emphasising his final words, but Tseng, always watching, could see the physical strain in the tension of his shoulders and the set of his jaw, and felt another burst of anger at Reno and Rude for complicating the situation further.

"We should embrace this," Rufus said, "as a new beginning. Rude – let me know if there's anything you need."

"Thank you, Sir," Rude replied.

"Tseng," Rufus said, "Stay. I'll brief you on what I want to happen with Reeve. The rest of you – get some sleep. While you can."

As soon as the door had closed behind Elena, Reno and Rude, Rufus managed the three steps to the wheelchair, and almost fell into it, breathing hard. "Damn this –" he muttered.

"Sir," Tseng began, "We can discuss Reeve tomorrow. You should –"

"We'll come to Reeve. First, I want to talk about this child. Kilmister has some vague theories about the stigma, but he's being very cagey. He – frustrates me, but unfortunately he's all I have for now. However, all the hints he's dropped so far seem to revolve around the Lifestream – that it has been somehow contaminated. But I wonder… This child – if it was created by pure Lifestream energy…"

Tseng felt a deep unease. "Sir - Rufus – what are you thinking?"

"It would only require a few cells. I wouldn't even have to tell Kilmister where they came from. Obviously we'll keep the origin of the child a secret in any case. But there's a possibility, however small, that this child might hold the key to a cure."

"I'm sorry Sir, but I don't see why it would," Tseng said gently.

More than anything else about the disease, what wounded Tseng was having to witness Rufus' controlled desperation to find a cure in the face of all the mounting evidence suggesting that geostigma was incurable. He felt brutal as he pointed out, "Kilmister's already tried using cells from unaffected people, without success."

"But this is different," Rufus insisted. "Some of the first appearances of the stigma were in people directly exposed to the Lifestream at Meteorfall. But Reno and Rude were both right at the heart of it, and they're unaffected. More – they've been given this – manifestation of life. Surely that was caused by uncontaminated Lifestream? It must mean something!"

"I don't know. You used to say that your father was superstitious, but you weren't."

"This is nothing like my father! He believed all kinds of mystical nonsense. This is a scientific theory. It's only a theory." Rufus' anger subsided. "Which means that you're right, of course. It doesn't have to mean anything does it? It might just have _happened_."

"I – think so. You could be right about the cells. I just don't want –"

"Tell me, Tseng. That damned Kilmister gives me so many false leads and obscure notions I'm – afraid of becoming unrealistic. Hojo's influence still pollutes everything. Tell me the truth."

"You know the truth, Rufus. But I'll give you my opinion. I think it's worth pursuing. But don't make it a new Promised Land."

Rufus smiled, grimly. "Thank you. I suppose – ShinRa doesn't have a good track record when it comes to experimentation and children."

"No. And if you're going to proceed with this, I think you have to ask Rude's permission. And Reno's, if it turns out the child is his, too."

Rufus laughed, and this time there was no bitterness. "Believe me, I wouldn't dare ask Rude and _not_ Reno. But I am only talking about a few cells."

"I can't think they'd have any objection to that."

"I hope not. Anyway, as you say, it's a long shot." There was a moment of silence and then Rufus sighed. "Tseng, you remember Dark Nation?"

"Yes, I remember her. Why?"

"I don't know. I thought of her for some reason. I – miss her, sometimes." Rufus looked up, brushing hair out of his eyes, and Tseng was suddenly reminded of just how young he still was. Then Rufus' expression hardened, and he was all business again. "Now," he said, with a little smile that had nothing of innocence in it, "we'd better think about how to persuade Reeve that sometimes people need – direction."

x

Reno and Elena watched with satisfaction as the last one of the day's blood donors made his way into Dr. Hearn's consulting room. Unconsciously playing with the already ragged edges of the small circular plaster that covered the tiny wound in the crook of his elbow from his own donation earlier in the afternoon, Reno said, "Gotta hand it to the Boss, this is really working."

Elena slapped his hand away. "Leave it alone. Why did they give you a plaster anyway? You big kid. Can't you handle the sight of blood any more?"

"Apparently I have bleedy veins." Reno leaned against the _ShinRa Solutions _poster on the waiting room wall, grinning, and gestured back at it with his thumb. "Love these. You know Rude designed this? Boss went to Reeve and told him to stop fucking around and just tell people that giving blood wasn't an option, and then softened the blow by _offering_ to take responsibility. Which means ShinRa's name's all over the posters, and ShinRa's getting most of the credit. I mean – look at this poster, yo! Look right down at the bottom, like, almost behind the chair - 'Sanctioned by the WRO'. Look at the size of that font, and then that fuckin' huge ShinRa logo. The WRO don't even got a logo worth mentioning. Some arty shit with that cat on it! Who's gonna even notice that? Gotta love the Boss sometimes. He's so damn _sneaky_!"

"It was a risky strategy though," Elena said. "There was a lot of resistance at first."

"Yeah – but think about it. They couldn't hate us more than they already did. And now we come out of it lookin' like the good guys."

"Well," said Elena thoughtfully, "Maybe we _are_ the good guys now? At least a bit. I mean, look at what we've achieved! No more blood shortages, and enough in stock for the main event. And there's still more than a month to go."

"Five weeks, two days," Reno said, suddenly tense. "For the rest of them. Nine days for Rude."

Elena looked at him. "Yes. Not long…"

"No."

"Everything's ready. I got everything on the list. Rufus' money helped a lot. There's this woman in Kalm who makes all kinds of toys. I got two moogles, because first I got pink, and then I thought – you know – gender stereotyping – so I got blue as well. This baby is going to be just fine."

"Not worried about the baby," Reno admitted.

"Rude will be fine," Elena said.

"You can't say that. Fuck! You know the odds! No one can say that."

"I'm sorry. But we have to hope…"

"_Hope_! Yeah. This is what I _hate_. You know, you join the Turks – you think _okay, now I get to say how it goes down_, yeah? And I'd do whatever – you know? Steal, lie, kill… But there's nothing. Nothing!"

"Yes. But there's Rude, _now_. Come on, Reno, we're finished here for the day. Let's go home."

x

Reno woke to a hard poke in the ribs.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rolling over to face Rude, although he could make out little but a shadowy darkness against the night. "What was that for?"

"You were yelling again," Rude said. "And thrashing about. I thought you might hit me, like last time."

"Shit, sorry," Reno said. "I don't mean to."

"I know. Same dream?"

"Think so. Can't remember much. Only – we're on patrol in the Sector Six slums. Monster Alley – you know – not long after Zirconiade. And you're ahead – and then – I don't know. I'm running. Moving shit, or fighting something – I don't know. But you – I can't find you -"

"I'm right here."

"But –"

"I'm right here. Get over here, 'cause I ain't movin'. I'm too heavy to go anywhere, anyhow."

Reno moved across the ridge where the two mattresses met now that they'd pushed their beds together – just to make room for the cot, they'd both emphasised, although neither of them objected to the arrangement. Reno lay with his head on Rude's shoulder, and Rude ran his hand over Reno's hair a couple of times, the gesture familiar and soothing.

"You gonna let me get some fucking sleep now?" Rude asked.

"Shut the fuck up," Reno replied, tenderly. "Keepin' me awake, man."

x

The first two weeks of September slipped away, Reno spending every waking moment acting as though everything was normal and just _fine_, and every night ravaged by the same nightmare of Rude - gone. Rude himself, restless because of the weight of the baby and the way it restricted his breathing, was not appreciative of being woken from his few precious hours of sleep by Reno's shouting and unconscious struggles. Still, neither of them suggested sleeping in separate rooms, or even moving the beds apart again.

Neither of them spoke about the approaching event in anything but positive terms, except for one night, when Reno, startled out of an especially frightening nightmare in which he could see Rude, just ahead of him, slowly dissolving into mist, had asked quietly, "Do you ever wish that Meteorfall _had_ been the end?" and Rude had replied, simply, "No."

On the morning of the thirteenth, the four Turks gathered at the base of the steep steps that led up to the lodge. Tseng handed Reno the keys to the more reliable of the two remaining company cars, and Elena hefted a huge holdall into his arms. "Okay," she said, "That's Rude's clothes, the baby's clothes, diapers, wipes, feeding bottles and the steriliser, blankets and the blue moogle. Oh – and candles from Cosmo Canyon for relaxation – you know, before and after. And cream for rash, and gel for sore gums – the baby, not you - and two books about what to do, and a spare charger for your PHS. Call as soon as you have news."

"What," said Reno, with as much of a smile as he could manage, "No booze and cigars?"

"They'll be waiting when you get back," Rufus said, from behind Tseng. Tseng turned, concerned. There was no sign of the wheelchair.

"Thank you," Rude said. "Let's go, Reno." He nodded to Tseng and Rufus, but Elena stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, with a whispered, "Good luck!"

Reno hefted the enormous bag onto the back seat of the car, and opened the door for Rude, who manoeuvred himself carefully into the front passenger seat. From this side angle, it was suddenly clear to the three remaining Turks just how big Rude's abdomen had become. His jacket, which had stopped being physically possible to fasten two months ago, was now all but useless, covering little more than his back. When he stretched the seatbelt gently over the bump, it was extended almost the whole of its length. Tseng, Rufus and Elena watched as Reno drove much more sedately than usual along the dirt road out of Cliff Resort. When the car had rounded the corner, Tseng took Rufus' arm. "Sir…"

"I know," Rufus said. "I think you may have to half carry me back up. But I had to see them off."

"Of course." Tseng wrapped his arm around Rufus' waist, Rufus' arm around his shoulders, and took most of the president's weight as he made his laborious way back up the steps. Elena stood still, looking at the empty road, and mixed with her worry for Rude and the baby was a twist of something like jealousy. She'd never wanted children in the past, and she was still too young - of course she was. But if there was a man – if there was a certain man… If she had been by _her _partner's side just before meteor struck and had only dared –

But no use dwelling on what ifs. Elena turned and followed Tseng and Rufus up the stairs, her eyes on Tseng, supporting Rufus so surely.

_What the hell am I doing?_ Elena asked herself._ Worrying about how he sees me – what I'm wearing – impossible futures! Rufus needs him. Rufus and Tseng both need me – to do my job – to hold as much of the rest of the shit at bay as I can. Reno – whatever happens with Rude, I'm here to make sure you get through it without impacting on those two. Whatever else happens, I'm still a Turk. _

x

"I'm coming in," Reno said. "You'd let any other father in during a caesarean."

"Yes," replied Hendricks, "We would. But this isn't a normal caesarean – it isn't just a caesarean. And Rude won't be conscious. We don't have time to mess around with anaesthetics. You can be present until the baby is delivered, then you'll have to leave. The nurses in the other unit only know we have a complicated pregnancy to deal with – they don't know the circumstances. They've been told you're the father and that your partner will require surgery after the delivery. They'll help you with the baby."

Reno glanced towards the steel-framed hospital bed where Rude was still sleeping after the tests and checks of the previous evening. He lowered his voice as he said, "The nurses can take care of the baby. I want to be here. I'll wait outside, but I want to be here. You might need me – for the materia."

"We have the two restore materia you gave us yesterday. We're all trained in its use," Hendricks said. "But you know the limits. It's not always appropriate or possible to use it."

"But you'll fetch me," Reno insisted, "if there's – if anything –"

"Yes."

"And you have enough blood?"

"Yes. We're almost ready to go. Once Rude's awake we'll give him the premed, and Blake and I will go scrub up. Hearn will be administering the anaesthetic.

"Right. Yeah."

"Hey, Reno," Rude said from the bed. Reno went to his side immediately.

"Hey, Partner."

Hendricks handed Rude a small clear plastic cup. "Here's the premed."

Rude nodded, and downed the liquid, Reno watching, unable to shake the feeling that he was witnessing an execution rather than preparations for a birth. The compulsion to physical action – to get himself and Rude out of there – was almost overwhelming. Hendricks left the room, leaving Reno and Rude alone.

"Not long now," Rude said, his voice already touched by a drowsy slowness caused by the medication. He reached out and gripped Reno's sleeve. "There's a letter," he said. "I left it in the nightstand in our room. If I don't make it –"

"Don't!"

"If I don't make it, read it. It's just a couple of things – names I thought of. But you choose."

"No. Your choice. You're going to name her – after. You have to come through this Rude, or she ain't getting a name."

"Okay. But – Reno… If she turns out to be yours, or if she doesn't – promise me you'll be her dad."

Reno shook his head. "I won't. You're gonna have to come and make me."

"Reno –"

"Yeah. Yeah, I promise. Rude –" Reno's voice caught as though there was something jagged in his throat.

"I know."

"No – you don't. I –"

Hearn appeared in the doorway. "It's time," he said. "We need to take you in now."

"Okay," Rude said, sounding very calm. He looked up at Reno, his eyes already beginning to lose focus. "Tell me – after," he said.

"Okay. After."

Reno helped Hearn push the bed into the operating theatre, where Rude was moved from the bed across onto the operating table. Hearn wheeled the anaesthetics cart into position beside the table, and Blake set up a screen across Rude's chest.

"What the hell's that for?" Reno asked.

"We have two theatre nurses on standby," Hendricks said. "It would make things simpler if they didn't see that they're dealing with a man. We'll set up the catheters and so on, and cover him up. Hearn will control the anaesthetic and oxygen. We've already told the nurses it's a complex ectopic. Besides, I'm sure you'd rather not see –"

"I'll be fine," Reno said. Rude touched his hand. "Look after her," he said. Reno looked down at Rude and made himself smile. "Yeah," he said. "Until _you_ can."

"Okay?" Hearn asked Rude.

"Yeah. I'm ready."

Reno hadn't even noticed Hearn attaching the anaesthetic line to the cannula in the back of Rude's left hand. Rude's eyes closed almost immediately, and Reno moved aside, trying to shake off the cold dread that flooded his own veins, as the surgeons started their work, and the two theatre nurses entered the room.

Reno kept his eyes on Rude's still face behind the tubes and the oxygen mask, as Blake performed her part of the operation. It seemed mere minutes before she lifted a pink, struggling mass from behind the screen and Reno heard a thin wail, shocking in the quiet room, where the soft murmurs of the staff and the regular beeping of monitors had been the only sounds. Blake took the thing – the baby – off to one side of the room, and Hendricks moved in with the two nurses, saying, "Okay, here we go. Be ready to transfuse."

Blake approached with a blanket in her arms, smiling. Reno stared at her. Why was the woman grinning like an idiot when Rude was lying there –

"Your daughter," Blake said, pushing the bundle at him. Reno took it, and made himself look down at what had emerged from Rude's body.

"She's perfect," Blake told him. "Healthy. A good size for thirty-six weeks."

The baby looked up at Reno with wide, calm eyes of a dark, slate blue colour. It's face was smooth but very red, and it had a tuft of fine black hair protruding from beneath the blanket it had been wrapped in. Reno looked at his daughter's face and felt nothing at all.


	6. When You Awake

**It's finished! I shamelessly adapted the nursery rhyme from one of the loveliest I know - "All the Pretty Horses". Sing along if you know the tune.**

**(I posted this chapter and chapter five at the same time, so if there seems to be an odd jump in the story, you may have missed five. I say this because the stats are showing a lot of traffic for this, final, chapter, and not much for five!) **

**Chapter warnings - mentions of suicidal thoughts, and it gets a bit fluffy around the edges at times, although Reno's reactions are based on real experiences to some extent.**

* * *

**The Meteor Effect**

**VI**

**When You Awake**

"Blake," Hendricks called, and although his voice was calm, Reno heard the suppressed urgency in his tone.

"What is it?" he and Blake said together.

"Bleeding – as we thought. We'll need your help."

"Restore," said Reno at once.

"No. It's too soon. If we use it now and it fails, we'll weaken him. We'll take the conventional route first. Blake!"

"Yes." Blake turned to Reno. "You must wait outside. You can't help here. The nurses will show you what to do."

"But –"

"Go."

Reno knew the doctors were right – restore could do more harm than good used at the wrong time. He was only in the way. With a last, lost look at Rude, Reno took the baby out of the theatre. The air in the corridor outside was cooler and the baby began to cry.

"Shh," said Reno automatically, his eyes still fixed on the doors of the operating theatre. The baby had turned its alien little face towards his jacket, mouth open like one of those baby chocobos they sometimes showed on the racing channels. Its neck was thin and stretched, fine blue veins visible beneath the delicate skin. Reno shivered. One of the nurses approached, holding a bottle.

"Oh!" she cooed, "She's just perfect! Doesn't she look like you?" Reno stared at the woman as though she were insane. The nurse pushed the bottle into his hand and said, "Just let her go at her own pace."

Reno put the teat to that gaping mouth, and the baby latched on to it without difficulty. Reno's eyes returned to the door of the operating theatre.

"Do you have a name?" the nurse asked.

"What?"

"A name. For the baby?"

"No. I'm not naming it. Rude is…"

"Oh look - she's doing well with that bottle. Look at her go!"

Reno looked down at the baby and the already half-empty bottle. "Yeah," he agreed flatly.

"Sometimes premature babies have difficulty learning to suck."

"Right."

"When she's had her feed, we need to give her a few checks and her vitamin K shot. Don't worry –"

Reno thrust the baby, bottle and all, into the surprised nurse's arms. "Good. Yeah. You – do all that stuff. Whatever you need to do, yeah?" He looked back at the closed door. The nurse gave him a sympathetic look. "They're doing all they can for your wife in there. Try not to worry."

"My _wife_?"

"Yes – Ruby didn't you say? Oh – sorry – is it _partner_? They just said it was an ectopic…"

"Right," Reno replied, remembering that these nurses hadn't been told about the situation. "Yeah – yeah. Sorry. I don't –"

"It's all right. We'll take care of this little darling. I'll bring her back in a few minutes."

Reno had to restrain himself from exclaiming, "Don't!"

When the nurse had taken the baby away, Reno paced up and down outside the operating theatre, thinking of nothing but Rude. He had been fretting uselessly for about ten minutes when, from behind the closed blinds that covered the glass panel in the door, Reno saw the unmistakable green glow of materia.

"Shit!" he swore, yanking open the door without knocking and bursting into the theatre, his own restore materia already in his hand. "Rude! What's happening?"

Hendricks looked up at him as he entered. "Cast it," he said. "We've had one fail already. We can't stop the bleeding."

Reno cast Cure over his partner as he had so many times during missions.

"Still not enough!" Blake cried. "Use the last one, Hearn."

Hearn cast another spell. Rude's body was bathed in green light, but Hearn swore as the materia he'd been using went dark and useless.

Desperate, Reno cast again, but this time nothing happened. "It was mastered!" he gasped. "How can it fail?"

"I think that's done it," Hendricks said. "Or – no – but the bleeding's not so bad. I'm going to reconnect the bowel. With luck, the extra strength Cure provides will allow the tissue to join.

Reno could do nothing but watch while Hendricks worked on Rude, Hearn and Blake supporting. He had no idea how much time had passed, when Hendricks said, "All right. I think those stitches will hold. I'm going to close up, and then we'll see where we are."

"Is he going to be all right?" Reno asked.

"I can't say yet. He lost a lot of blood when we removed the placenta. We had to take a longer section of bowel than we anticipated. We've given him blood – a lot of blood – but he was in trouble a couple of times. We'll know more when we bring him out of the anaesthetic."

"You should be with the baby," Blake said. "We'll let you see Rude as soon as he's out of theatre."

Reno wanted to argue, but he was afraid of causing trouble when Rude so clearly needed the surgeons' attention. He returned to the corridor, closing the door behind him. The nurse who had taken the baby reappeared and said, "You were in there nearly an hour. Are you all right? Is she -?"

"I don't know," replied Reno, dazed. "They're going to tell me. I don't know."

"Come and see your daughter," the nurse said. "She's sleeping. We've cleaned her up. She's beautiful."

Numbly, Reno followed the nurse into another room where the baby lay in a transparent plastic cot. The nurses had dressed the kid in a yellow sleep suit that only made it look even more like a chocobo chick than it had done previously. Reno slumped in the chair next to the cot and made himself look at the baby. It looked like a baby. He couldn't see any resemblance to Rude or to himself in its small mottled face. It could be anyone's baby. If anything it was kind of - ugly.

"Are they supposed to look like that?" he asked.

"Like what? She's lovely!" the nurse said. "She has your eyes, doesn't she?"

"How can you tell? They looked kinda – dark blue."

"Oh – you can't tell the colour straight away. But the shape of them."

The baby's eyes looked like puffy slits. Its nose was tiny and had no particular shape. Now that the gummy maw was closed in sleep, the mouth looked less disproportionately huge than it had done when it had been wide open, but Reno still felt no more connection to the baby than he had on first seeing it. _Her_. Whatever.

_Not mine_, he thought. _I don't want this._

"I'll leave you with your little girl," the nurse said. "Try to get some sleep if you can. We'll hear if she wakes, but you call us if you need anything."

Reno sat beside the sleeping baby, his head in his hands. Every so often his eyes reluctantly strayed to the cot, but the baby persisted in looking as unremarkable as ever. Nothing about it reminded him of Rude.

After a time the baby started making strange snuffling noises. Reno jumped up, alarmed, and peered into the cot. He didn't want the kid, but Rude would never forgive him if he let anything happen to it.

"Nurse!" he yelled. "Something's up!"

A different nurse – an older woman he hadn't seen before – entered the room briskly, but without panic. She looked at the baby, who had managed to sleep through Reno's shouting.

"She's sleeping," the nurse told Reno.

"But she was making these noises. Like – snorting noises."

"Snoring?"

"Well – yeah. I guess. Do babies do that?"

"Sometimes. Her lungs are new to this, remember. Try not to worry. It must seem strange at first."

"Yeah. Is there any news – from the theatre?"

"Not yet. They'll come to you first."

"Right."

The nurse stroked a finger along the baby's cheek. "She's only the third Meteor Effect baby I've seen so far. The other two both made it – one was eight weeks prem. She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"Looks like a bird with no feathers. Are they always this red? She looks kinda _raw_."

"Some are much redder. Some are squashed looking – difficult vaginal deliveries – forceps or ventouse. Heads like cones. But they all look fine after a few hours or days. Do you have support? If your wife needs to stay in hospital –"

Reno didn't bother to correct her. "Yeah," he said, thinking of Elena, Tseng and Rufus. "Yeah, I have support."

"Good. It's a steep learning curve –"

The nurse looked up as Hendricks and Blake entered the room. She looked at their faces, and left the room quietly.

Reno found himself unable to ask the question.

"He's alive," Hendricks said. "But he hasn't come around from the anaesthetic. Hearn's with him, running tests. We think he's in a coma."

"But he'll be okay?"

"We don't know that yet."

"I want to see him."

"Yes. He's in the recovery room. He's breathing unaided, which is a good sign."

Reno headed for the door. Blake said, "The baby."

"Oh – yeah. He'll want to see her. Hear her. Shit." Reno went to the cot and hesitated, looking at the size of his hands, thinking of that bird-like neck.

"She won't break," Blake smiled. "Be careful to support her head."

Reno reached into the cot and lifted the baby out. She stirred in his arms, but didn't wake. He carried her carefully as, he would carry an expensive laptop, or an armed grenade, because she was Rude's. Perhaps hearing her, or knowing she was there, would bring him round.

Rude looked no different from how he normally looked sleeping. There was a drip in his arm and the wires of various monitors snaked under the sheets, but, as Hendricks had said, he was breathing without artificial help, his breaths regular and steady. Under the blankets, his abdomen looked smaller. He hadn't really gained weight elsewhere on his body during the whole ordeal. Reno had often seen him bruised and wounded after missions. Now he looked peaceful. But when Reno said, too loud in the quiet room, "Hey, Partner!" there was no response. "I brought her to see you," Reno said, approaching the bed, holding the baby out in a hopeless appeal. "They – they say she's beautiful. She's fine. She is fine. All the right bits." He hated the fragility in his own attempt at a laugh. Blake gave him a sympathetic look, and moved to the door. "We'll leave you with him for a while," she said. Hearn put a hand on Reno's shoulder, before he left the room, Hendricks following.

"Okay, Partner," Reno said, laying the baby against Rude's chest, and holding her there. "You can have the rest of today off. But then I want you back on duty, yeah? You feel that? That's your kid. She needs you."

The baby began to cry. Reno muttered, "Shit!" and picked her up again. "See?" he said to Rude, "You hear that? That's her. Loud little fucker, ain't she?" He could almost hear Rude telling him not to swear in front of the kid.

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "You want me to do this your way, you come an' tell me _how_ - you hear me? An' I meant what I said. She's not getting a name until you tell me what it is. Okay?"

The silence was broken only by the regular low beeping of the monitors and the occasional whimper from the baby as she settled in Reno's arms. He sat on the chair beside Rude's bed, rocking the baby automatically, looking across at his partner.

"Okay," he said at last, "Maybe I was too harsh. You – take as long as you need, man. But you come back. An' this ain't no extended vacation like Reiley, either – 'cause I ain't waiting three years, and you don't got the excuse of falling into a mako reactor!"

Reno lapsed into silence. The baby settled, and went back to sleep. Reno found that he could hold her quite safely in one arm. He reached to take hold of Rude's hand, sliding his own underneath it, being careful not to dislodge the cannula taped into the vein. "Rude," he said, quietly. "You have to come back. I need you. I can't –" He heard himself, and stopped. "No," he said. "Scratch that. I _can_. I will. Whatever it takes. But I _want_ you back, okay, Partner? We – we both want you back. When you're ready, yeah?"

x

When it became apparent, after more than a week, that Rude wasn't going to come out of the coma quickly, if at all, but that his condition was stable, Reno insisted on bringing him back to Cliff Resort.

Tseng and Elena were waiting at the bottom of the steps to meet the ambulance that Hearn had somehow commandeered for the afternoon. The truth was, with only three weeks to go to the full "Meteor Effect" crisis, there was no room for Rude in Edge anyway. Rufus' money had enabled Reeve to complete the new hospitals at five different locations in Edge and Kalm, but even with these fully operational, there would still be overcrowding for the two or three days when the number of births would spike drastically.

Reno and Hearn unloaded the stretcher bearing Rude's inert body from the ambulance. Elena and Tseng moved to look at their colleague.

"Rude," said Elena, softly.

Tseng looked at Reno. "We've cleared Elena's room for him," he said. "There's a good power supply for the monitors."

"Thanks," Reno said. Elena waited for the inevitable question, but it didn't come. Instead, Reno took hold of his end of the stretcher, nodding to Hearn, waiting at the other end, and said, "Tseng – get the doors, would you? Elena – baby's in the front – in the carrier you bought."

"Right," said Elena, moving round to the passenger side of the ambulance. The baby was safely strapped into a backwards-facing carrier. She was gurgling happily to herself, waving her arms eagerly at a pattern of dancing shadows cast onto the back of the ambulance seat by the sunlight filtering through leaves.

"Well look at you!" Elena exclaimed, leaning forwards to unfasten the seatbelt that held the carrier in place. "Don't you look just like your daddy?"

x

Two weeks passed, and life at Cliff Resort settled into a new pattern. Reno dutifully read everything Elena had found about caring for newborns. He made up formula, washed and sterilised bottles, changed nappies, carefully cleaned the remains of the clamped cord until it fell off, bathed the baby in the yellow plastic tub Elena had purchased, using appropriate baby bath products. Apart from swearing under his breath occasionally when he was woken for the fifth time in the night by the kid's crying, he was an exemplary father in every way except for the one that counted most. He did all he could to work while the baby was asleep, but, despite Elena's willingness to take turns at childcare, everybody soon became aware that the situation was untenable.

Now that she shared a room with Tseng – a circumstance that Reno still hadn't summoned the energy to tease her about – Elena was the first to see the effect the child was having on the director. She took it upon herself to talk to Reno about it, before Tseng was forced to intervene.

She found Reno, ashen-faced with deep shadows under his eyes, emerging from his bedroom. "She's asleep," he said. "At last. Fuck me, I never knew it was possible to be this tired."

"Sleep," Elena told him. "I'll listen out for the monitor. You get some rest on the couch."

"Need to see Rude," Reno said. "Then I'm on duty."

"This isn't working," Elena told him. "None of us can go on like this. Tseng's doing half your shifts as well as his own – and that's with Rufus relatively well. And you're doing a good job – you really are – but –"

"What?" Reno glared at her. "What now? I'm doing everything those books said. She's fed. She's clean. She's growing and all that shit! Yeah – and there's plenty of that to go around – fucking – bright yellow…" His rant subsided, as he yawned hugely.

"I know. I know you are. But – you don't look at her, Reno. You don't talk to her."

"She's a fucking _baby_! She can't talk!"

"You know what I mean."

"What do you want me to do? All right – I'll talk to her."

"Babies need…"

"What? What the fuck else?"

Elena couldn't bring herself to say it. Reno looked utterly drained. "Never mind. What do I know? But – I think we need help. Someone to look after her so you can work."

"I'm not sending her away. I know those places – I – Rude wouldn't want…"

"I'm not talking about sending her away. I mean – like a nanny, or something."

"A nanny? What – like rich kids have?"

"I'm sure Rufus would be happy to pay."

In spite of his exhaustion Reno's eyes flashed at that. "I can pay! But – who? Who could we trust?"

"There's a nurse here – a former nurse. The one who put you on to the fact that pregnancy prevents the stigma. Rude knew - uh, _knows_ - her quite well, from doing his training. I mentioned that, if she was interested, there might be work…"

"A Geostigma patient?"

"Yes. It's not contagious. We know that much. And she's well at the moment. She seemed enthusiastic. We wouldn't tell her - you know – how the baby got here."

Reno looked doubtful, but the idea of having someone to help with the baby was very tempting.

"You're sure the stigma's not contagious?"

"Yes. Didn't you see the report Rufus wrote after he got out of that cave system? Black water. That's what he thinks caused it. And we've all been here with him – changed the dressings – been with him during attacks. If it were contagious, we'd all have it by now."

"Yeah," said Reno. "I know, really. Well - I guess we could tell this nurse that the baby's Rude's kid, and we've been looking after her while he's – while…"

Elena shook her head. "We can't do that, Reno. It's obvious to anyone that she's yours."

"No way! We don't even know that she is mine! She doesn't look anything like me – or Rude. She looks like a baby."

Elena sighed. "All right – well, we'll work out what to tell her later. But in principle?"

"Hell yeah," said Reno. "Anything."

x

It took former paediatric nurse Grace Coleman two days to reorganise affairs at the ShinRa Lodge, as the stigma patients apparently referred to it, into a workable routine. By the end of the week Tseng was seriously considering recruiting her as a Turk. A kind of normality emerged from the threatened chaos. Rufus was well enough to work, liaising with Reeve on plans for the future of Edge; Tseng and Elena both managed enough sleep to allow them to function effectively and to spend some time with Rude, who remained stable, but showed no sign of improvement. Although he was still very tired, Reno seemed to be coping.

Things had improved so much that Rufus felt able to broach the subject of the cells he needed from the child in order to look for a potential cure for the stigma. He didn't know whether to be relieved or alarmed when Reno only looked at him for a moment and replied, "Yeah, sure. Why not – if it'll help."

"Thank you," Rufus said. "And if you'll allow us to take a cheek swab from you, too, we'll be able to establish paternity."

"If you want. Makes no difference anyhow. Told Rude I'd look after her, an' I'm lookin' after her."

"A DNA test is not really necessary," Rufus said. "It's quite clear that she's your child."

"So I've been told. Can't see it myself."

"So you have no objections?" Rufus asked. He'd been prepared for a fight. Reno shrugged. "Might as well do some good to someone, if she can. Some fucking _point _to all this. Rude… Well, he would want..."

Reno hadn't been prepared to say any more on the subject.

No one was at all surprised when, a few days later, the DNA test proved that half of Rude's baby's genes were Reno's.

x

There was nothing on TV these days except reports about the Meteor Effect babies. Some evenings, when he was too tired to do anything but slump on the couch while he fed the baby or rocked her to sleep, Reno would catch interviews with joyful mothers, doctors and midwives recounting their experiences, the heads of the new orphanages, sometimes joined by Reeve, reassuring the public that all the babies were being looked after – wanted or unwanted. The fourteenth of October arrived, and the news was full of how well the hospitals were coping with the surge of new life.

Reno took the baby to Rude's room. He sat carefully on the end of the bed, and looked at his partner. Hearn visited frequently, and Nurse Coleman had taken over the duties of Rude's regular physiotherapy, although Reno liked to do extra sessions in the little time he had, in the hope that his touch or his voice might help to bring Rude out of the coma. Hearn and the other doctors hadn't been able to say for sure what had induced the coma, but they agreed that it was probably a combination of the trauma of the operation combined with the overdose of Cure he had received from what appeared to be unstable materia. Whether it was a consequence of Meteor, or the eruption of the Lifestream, no one knew, but materia appeared to be destabilising and failing all over the planet. Hendricks had told Reno that, nevertheless, the materia provided by ShinRa had certainly saved Rude's life – without it the bleeding would never have been controlled. But as the days passed the chances of Rude emerging from his unconsciousness lessened.

"Hey," Reno began. "It's all kicking off now. Hundreds of babies." He held their baby close to Rude's face. She made a sound that sounded like "Ga."

"See," said Reno. "She's saying hello. You have to wake up and have a look at her, Partner. Everyone's saying she looks like me, but I – I don't know. Elena thinks I don't talk to her enough – but what should I say? Not like she understands me. Talk to you more than to her 'cause it's like – I know what you'd say, you know?

"Rude – she's mine. I know, I saw the test results, but she don't feel like anything to do with me. I'm looking after her, like I promised, but…"

He fell silent. What was the point?

Rude's face looked naked without his sunglasses. Vulnerable.

Reno tried again. "Look, man – you gotta come back. The nurse, Grace – you know her – the one who does your physio. She keeps sayin' I need to give this kid a name – says she needs a name so she knows who she is. Elena too. Even Tseng. Saw him the other day looking into the cot. _He_ talks to her. Calls her something in Wutaian. I don't know what. Elena says I should sing to her and shit. She does this song about "all the pretty chocobos. Red, yellow, blue, Golden too…" I don't know. Never knew any of those kid songs. But you have to name her. You have to. I know I said take your time, but seriously? Don't go pulling a Reiley on me now, because I don't know how much longer…

"Least there's one thing. Boss seems to think her cells might help with the stigma. That would be something, huh? Something… good."

The baby started crying. "Okay, okay," Reno told her, before turning his attention back to Rude. "Look, Partner, I gotta go. She needs feeding. But you – think about what I said, yeah? You got work here. You got people who –" Even now, with Rude unconscious, and nobody present but the child, Reno couldn't say the word he'd failed to say in the hospital. "You got people counting on you," he finished, instead.

x

Rufus stood at the window, looking out at the slowly darkening sky and the long lines of the waterfalls, matte silver in the low light.

"I'm sorry," said Tseng.

Rufus didn't look round. "It's all right. We knew it was a long shot. I should have learned by now, not to look for reason in nature." He gave a low laugh. "I guess I haven't quite shaken off the idea that I have a destiny. But the child is just a healthy child. I suppose we'll never know how it was made. And perhaps there is no _why_."

"You have a destiny," Tseng said.

Rufus turned to face him. "I was never afraid of death," he said. "But _this_ death… I think it comes to you when you give in. When you're reconciled to the idea that you're going to die. In the cave – there was a moment when I thought it was the end and I was ready. Then the black water came." He shivered, remembering. "It was something - _sentient_. I fought it, but it was too late. It was an instant of weakness. I shouldn't have given up. None of you – Rude, Reno, Elena - and you, Tseng – none of you gave up."

"We're different," Tseng replied. "It's easier for us because we believe that you _do_ have a destiny. We all believe that you do. As long as you're with us, we can't give up. It's the nature of our job. Leadership is… harder."

"You think I know what to do? In all this chaos?"

"I think you will work out what to do, yes. And we'll keep working to find a cure."

"But what if there is no cure? What if the stigma – wherever it comes from – is invincible?"

"Then we'll fight it as long as we can."

Rufus nodded. "Thank you, Tseng." He moved to look out of the window again. As Tseng turned to go, Rufus said quietly, "I never thought that any of you would stay – after Weapon. After Meteor."

"We stayed where we belong, Sir," Tseng replied, before he closed the door.

x

Reno took the letter from the drawer in the nightstand and turned it over in his hands. All that was written on it was his name, in Rude's neat, clear handwriting. He longed to open it. However brief Rude had been, at least the letter would contain his words – almost his voice. Something of him more real than the still form lying on that bed, present and yet so horribly absent. What had Rude wanted to call their daughter? Had he written anything else?

But the letter was in case he died. And that was not going to happen, was it?

Angry at his weakness, Reno returned the letter to the drawer, and went to stand by the cot, looking down at his sleeping baby. How had Elena's song gone?

"Red, yellow, blue, golden too. All the pretty chocobos. When you awake, you shall have…"

_When you awake. _

Six weeks now. Almost all of the Meteor Effect babies born, and Rude still as far away as ever.

x

Seven weeks. The Meteor Effect crisis was over. Reno held his baby carefully in the warm water, one arm around her back, washing what remained of her hair. The black tufts she had been born with had mostly fallen out, and the newly emerging fluff that had grown to replace it sometimes gleamed amber in the light. Her eyes – well, yes, he could see what they meant about her eyes now. Shaped like his own, but the colour of Rude's. Perhaps there were resemblances, after all. And yet he still felt nothing towards her but a duty of care, for Rude's sake.

And Rude?

Rude wasn't going to make it, was he?

"Sorry, Kid," Reno said aloud. "You and me – we're on our own, I reckon."

Tseng had told him that the cells Kilmister had tested had been completely normal, healthy human cells. No hope of a cure for the stigma there. Rude had been right after all – she was a normal baby. Just a normal baby.

What had been the point of any of it? All the baby had done was to take Rude away and cause problems for the rest of them.

"And it's my fault," Reno murmured, looking at the baby. He reached for the soap, and cursed as the sleeve of his jacket dipped into the water. He shrugged off the wet garment, letting it fall to the ground beside the tub. There was a metallic clatter as something struck the wooden floor, and looking down, Reno saw that the magrod, which he hadn't used for months now, had slipped out of the inside pocket of his old uniform jacket. His first thought was, "Shouldn't be in a bathroom." His second came unbidden – a desperate thought that he could never take back or unthink. It would be quick. It would take them both together, no question. It would be a solution. Rude wasn't going to wake up.

Shocked, Reno kicked the weapon away, everything inside him rebelling against the idea. He looked down at the baby, appalled at himself, and his attention was caught by something strange in the water – a cloudy mass, like a drop of black ink, spreading thin tendrils –

With a horrified shout, Reno snatched his baby out of the water, holding her tight. In the tub the black stain spread outwards, fingers of darkness reaching into clear water… then, as quickly as it had appeared, the alien substance contracted, became an ink drop again, and vanished. Reno stared at the water, wondering whether he'd been hallucinating - knowing that he hadn't.

A painfully sharp tug brought his attention back to the baby. Her hand was closed tight around a little fistful of his hair. "Hey," he said, "C'mon kid! That really – ow!"

She looked at him, and smiled.

"Oh," said Reno, gazing into his daughter's eyes and seeing her for the first time.

And no – those weren't _tears_ in his eyes - it was steamy as fuck in here – but, "Oh baby girl – nothing is ever gonna hurt you. I'm gonna keep you safe, baby. Your daddy's gonna keep you safe!"

"About time!" said Elena from the doorway.

Reno turned to look at her, his expression dazed. "She smiled," he said.

"She must have known," Elena replied, and her own face was radiant. "Rude's woken up. He's asking for you. He's asking for you both."

**The End.**

**Thank you for reading this unintentionally long story!**

**So – what did Rude and Reno call their baby? I had a few ideas, but names are such personal things I thought people would have their own preferences. I did try a couple of random baby name generators online, and when I put in the names of the parents as Reno and Rude my absolute favourite suggestion was... Pansy Ginger! Any thoughts? Reviews are always very welcome…**


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